Operation Bethlehem, page 19
He parked alongside other cars, turned off his cellphone and joined the security officer, who was waiting to take him to the nearby Kalia Kibbutz Guest House. Just before the entrance to the kibbutz there was a sign directing toward the Qumran National Park. He’d visited there with his grandfather when he was younger. He only now realized the similarity between the chance discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by a Bedouin looking for a lost goat, and Ibrahim’s discovery of the tunnels. He hoped for a similar outcome. It was certainly possible.
Yael, Jonathan and a few other intelligence officers he hadn’t met yet were waiting for him in the sparsely furnished room. The next few hours were intense, and he quickly realized that there was no hope of stealing a few private moments with Yael. The conversation with the Shabak agents centered around the intel from the greenhouse and the surrounding area, but also coordination and preparation for the next stages. The ventilation shaft he’d discovered four nights ago in the metal structure next to the greenhouse left no room for doubt; there was an underground space beneath the greenhouse that had been deliberately hidden. The entrance, the size of the underground space and its purpose – all of that was still a mystery.
Their plan of action was complex. This time he wouldn’t be operating alone; the technology, skills, equipment and scope of the operation were beyond the capabilities of a single field agent. The surprising news triggered conflicting emotions and uncertainty in Daniel. The operation was moving forward; they were getting closer to the answers – but his hopes were shattered. It could mean the end of his quest just as he was on the verge of significant findings.
The meeting ended in the early afternoon and Daniel went back to the Dead Sea. He decided to stay away from the area frequented by Palestinians to avoid unnecessary contact with them. At the advice of Yael and the Shabak agents, he chose a beach more popular with tourists. He had to spend the next few hours there to rest up and establish a credible story should anyone in Bethlehem ask him about his day. The beach looked like a resort village, with swimming pools, shaded grassy areas, a bar and restaurant, even a venue for events and small cabins that didn’t look very inviting. Except for a group of Asian tourists, only a few other couples had found the time for a mid-week respite.
Daniel changed and went down to the beach, which had seen better days. He dragged a plastic chair behind him, slathered on a layer of black mud and sat on the waterline. Nature cooperated and arranged cloud cover to hide the sun, so sitting outside was bearable. Ripples washed over his feet, and Daniel stared at the horizon, where the sea met the crimson-colored Moab Mountains. His mind wandered aimlessly to Yael and their engagement ring on her finger that morning. He wondered why she wore it, and the most logical reason was that she still held hope for them. On the one hand, her behavior showed otherwise. Today, she was being friendly, nothing more. And since he’d left for France, she hadn’t done a thing to try and get back together. She even sent him all his belongings. On the other hand, she told him that she wasn’t in a relationship. Maybe she was waiting to see the outcome of this adventure she’d been drawn into because of him. He buried the thought that the ring was cheap manipulation to get him to trust her. He knew that Yael wasn’t like that. And what would she get out of it? But he couldn’t stop thinking about it, letting himself hope she was hinting that the door was still open.
After a while, the dried mud started to annoy him. Daniel went into the water and tried to float. After a few tries, he gave up. He rinsed off most of the dry mud with a hose on the beach, then went to the public showers. After a late lunch at the beach restaurant, he found a quiet, shaded area on the grass where he could rest and set the alarm on his phone. Staring at the canopy above him, he fell into a deep sleep.
Hours later, at seven twenty in the evening, Daniel entered the apartment building in Bethlehem, his bag slung over his shoulder. He turned straight to the stairs, but heard Abu Elias calling him from his office, “Jalal?”
Exactly as planned, Daniel thought, and turned around. He entered the cubbyhole office. “Good evening,” he said from the doorway.
“Good evening! Just in time – God must have sent you!” Abu Elias replied, turning to a couple sitting across from him with a sheepish smile on his face.
“Jalal, my friend,” he explained, “these two arrived a couple of hours ago, and may God help them, they don’t speak a word of English. She speaks French and he speaks Spanish. I could barely explain to them about the rent. What do they want from me?”
“Good evening,” Daniel spoke to Yael in French and nodded at the man with her, Mariano – a Shabak agent recruited for this operation. They had met that morning at the kibbutz.
“Julie,” Yael introduced herself with a smile, speaking in French with a slightly odd accent but not so much that Abu Elias would pick up on the nuances. She and Daniel spoke briefly and then shook hands.
“So?” Abu Elias asked, “What’s the story?”
“They want to take a walk around town and asked where they should go and if I could recommend a restaurant,” Daniel replied.
“Good,” the old man turned toward the door, hinting that they should follow him, “you know Bethlehem better than I do by now. Will you help them?”
“Don’t worry,” Daniel assured him.
“Wonderful,” Abu Elias clapped his hands together, “You can catch up on news from France.”
“She’s not French,” Daniel explained, “She’s from French Guiana. That’s in South America.”
“Never heard of it,” Abu Elias muttered as he walked out.
The first stage was successful, Daniel thought. They assumed that the old man informed Palestinian Intelligence about any foreign guests, so there was no one better to be a key player in a scenario of which he was completely unaware.
Daniel promised to come back in ten minutes and accompany them for a tour around town and dinner. He led them to wait in the courtyard between the apartment building and Abu Elias’ private residence amid the fragrant smell of herbs and a small fountain typical of traditional Arab-style inner courtyards.
He returned dressed like them, in dark clothing. They left the building together and Yael suggested, as planned, that if the center of town was far, they could take their rental car. Daniel agreed, and the three went to the car parked at the entrance to the building. The license plates were Israeli – not a rare sight in Bethlehem, considering people from East Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs, and tourists came there every day. Yael drove, her partner sat next to her, and Daniel in the back seat as their tour guide. The streets of Bethlehem were illuminated with yellow streetlights, and there was little traffic. Safe in their car, they had a different kind of conversation.
“Did everything go okay until I arrived?” Daniel asked Yael in Hebrew.
“Smoothly,” Yael answered. “We found the place pretty quickly and the room is fine.”
“Great,” he said, and for a split second he felt a spark of jealousy. Yael was going to spend the night with another man, presumably her partner. He knew that some of Abu Elias’ apartments were furnished only with double beds. He wasn’t used to feeling jealous. It wasn’t the first time she’d shared a room with another man during an operation, but when they were a couple, he’d never been jealous – he knew for sure that she was his.
“Are the beds comfortable?” he asked hesitantly.
Yael glanced at him through the rearview mirror, a smile in her eyes. “We haven’t checked yet,” she said deliberately, “but I’m sure Mariano will let me choose. We got a room with two twin beds.”
Daniel nodded. Mariano made a face and said, “Of course you can choose.”
“Where’s your apartment?”
“Next to yours,” Yael answered.
Daniel nodded again. From his detailed descriptions, Yael knew exactly where he lived. Their apartment was usually given to random guests, mostly tourists, but also Israeli Arab couples who wanted to have a good time far from watchful eyes upholding the codes of family honor. The shared wall between the two apartments wasn’t well insulated.
“We have around two and a half hours,” Daniel said, “Let’s take a short tour in the town center and then eat. At ten, we get to work, as planned.”
Mariano and Yael nodded. As they got closer to the center of town they saw more cafes, restaurants, colorful string lights and young people enjoying themselves. They parked in a well-lit area across from the restaurant where they planned to eat and were happy to note two Palestinian police officers patrolling the area, ensuring their car was safe. They focused their short walking tour on the old city’s main draw – The Church of the Nativity. The illuminated crosses on the bell towers, the bells ringing in the hour and the old limestone walls suggested a vacation abroad rather than an undercover operation.
Two hours later, on the outskirts of one of Bethlehem’s suburbs, they got authorization from the command post; the team operating the drone circling high above them confirmed that the area was clear. Yael stopped the car in a dark area. It took Daniel exactly three seconds to get out of the car with two black backpacks that were hidden in the car ahead of time in Israel, and another five seconds to disappear into the dark valley across the street. Yael and Mariano drove a bit further and parked in a big gravel parking lot next to other cars.
Daniel got organized, frequently glancing at the parking lot to note the movements of his partners. He removed the military night vision goggles from one of the packs, and quickly scanned the valley. The area looked clear. Next, he put on the black multi-pocketed tactical vest with adjustable straps, pulled out a gun secured in a holster, checked that it was loaded with the safety on and the silencer attached properly, and put it back. Then came the headset, a wide, flexible headband with a microphone and earpiece connected to a small tactical communication device from another pocket. He attached the night vision device above the headset.
Yael and Mariano slowly walked toward him and also disappeared into the darkness to join him. Daniel handed each one the same equipment, gave Mariano one backpack, and shouldered the other. When they were ready, they conducted an internal communications check, contacted the command post, and set off.
They had a short route ahead of them, around a mile along the ravine that led from the outskirts of a sparsely populated neighborhood to one of the outer walls of the psychiatric hospital complex in Bethlehem. Yael was first. Daniel followed her, and Mariano brought up the rear. There was very little illumination from the night sky. In the distance, they heard dogs barking and a donkey braying, but close around them only the chirping of crickets and the soft shuffle of their footsteps. With each step Daniel’s mood lightened. He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. Every breath he took filled his lungs with the unique blend of scents that was Israel. Like the flavors of fine wine, he recalled the fragrant aroma of hyssop, fig and pomegranate, mint and sage, although none were growing on their route. He watched Yael walking ahead of him in the dark. Her confident, purposeful, almost casual stride, and the disparity between her young, innocent look and the experienced field agent that she was ignited an intense desire in him to stop and embrace her with the love that had never died.
Yael passed by a large shrub and suddenly jumped back. Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. The silence was suddenly broken by the loud flapping of wings from some warblers whose sleep was disturbed. Mariano chuckled from behind them, and Yael cursed under her breath. Walking through the valley amplified every sound; every step, pebble or crunch of dry vegetation underfoot – at least that’s how it sounded to them. From experience they knew that as long as no one was within sixty feet of them, there was no danger. The amplifying effect also worked in the other direction. They heard distant sounds clearly, the laughter of women perhaps sitting in a backyard, loud music from a passing car, the buzz of a generator and high voltage lines.
They made their way down old stone terraces and crossed through an olive grove where the ravine intersected the main channel, and then up the other side. Although a short climb, it was a steep slope with high stone steps. Three hundred feet before they reached their destination, they saw the outer wall of the hospital like a black streak. Sweaty from the exertion, they reached an eight-feet high stone wall. On the other side were the woods. Yael wiped the sweat from her forehead. Mariano, who was taller and broader than Daniel, rested the palms of his hands on the rough stones. Daniel climbed on his back, stood on his shoulders, and quickly pulled himself up onto the wall. He lay on his stomach, held his hand out to Yael, and helped her climb up. Her hand was soft and firm. Daniel helped Mariano next then they both jumped down to the other side and joined Yael, who scanned the area to make sure no one was there.
Daniel led them in the direction of the greenhouse. Dry needles and twigs crunched underfoot and settled softly, as if they were walking on a foam mattress. They moved forward slowly and cautiously. Around sixty feet before the greenhouse, they stopped for a quick briefing. Daniel gave a rundown on their surroundings and Mariano reviewed their tasks and priorities – what they needed to get done that night and report so that the intelligence officers at headquarters could process and plan their mission for the following night. Daniel and Mariano entered the greenhouse and Yael stood watch outside and to guard their heavy packs.
It was warm and humid inside. Beads of sweat ran down their faces, their bodies heated from the exertion of the climb and from carrying their equipment. They walked between the rows and planned the next stage of the operation before unloading the devices they had brought with them. On the wooden platform Daniel noticed the large plastic crate with the gardening tools had again been moved a few feet to the right of its regular spot. Mariano went out into the woods, notifying Yael that they were starting to do their ground scan, and returned to the greenhouse with his backpack.
Following the preliminary plan for their main mission, they took out a ground penetrating radar that had been specially adapted for their operation. The main component was a receiver and transmitter in the shape of a flat, rectangular plastic box. Two long straps were attached to each side. A thick communication cable connected it to the control panel, a flat screen with a few push buttons. Mariano and Daniel took off the night vision devices and let their eyes adjust to the dark. Mariano switched on the radar and wrapped a strap around his neck to support the control panel slightly below his chest. Daniel held one of the radar straps and Mariano held the other, and together they lifted it a few inches above the ground. They started their scan at the point closest to the wooden platform, in a straight line relative to the ventilation shaft in the metal structure outside the greenhouse.
The indication on the control panel left no room for doubt from the first minute; there was an open space below. Mariano noted the location they saw on screen a few feet away from where they started, and they continued to systematically scan along the rows of the entire greenhouse, inch by inch. No other anomaly was detected. They returned to the location where they had seen the anomaly and repeated the scan. It appeared there was an underground space from that point toward the ventilation shaft and under the wooden platform. They decided to continue their scan outside in the vicinity of the metal structure and reported to command post. Yael confirmed that the coast was clear, and they could leave the greenhouse. Mariano covered the control panel screen to hide the illumination.
They walked back and forth among the trees, trying to cover as much ground as possible, because without the control panel they couldn’t know what they were revealing. Daniel’s hands were tired from holding the radar and he figured Mariano must feel the same. Neither one of them dared complain.
After forty-five minutes that felt like an eternity they joined Yael, sweaty and thirsty. They each downed a bottle of water and then packed up the radar. They switched roles for the last mission of the night. Mariano stayed to guard, Yael shouldered Daniel’s backpack, and together they went to the metal structure that hid the mysterious ventilation shaft. Daniel got to work with a lock-picking tool he pulled out from his vest. A few seconds later they opened the creaking door, entered the narrow structure, and closed it behind them. Yael took an endoscope camera out of the backpack, holding the handle with a small screen, and Daniel inserted a long optic cable through the wire mesh covering the air vent. A weak flow of air came through, and they heard a dull knocking sound – maybe a fan, Daniel thought. The display showed the metal interior of the air duct, lit by the glow of the optic fiber’s end, but the further down it went, the greater their disappointment. They saw nothing but the inside of the duct.
“I hope the cable is long enough,” Yael furrowed her brow.
“Man in the woods!” Mariano whispered into the radio.
Daniel stopped immediately and looked at Yael.
“Roger that. Man in the woods,” Yael replied coolly and whispered to Daniel, “How much more cable do we have?”
“Not more than five-six feet.”
“Keep going!”
“Advancing in the direction of the greenhouse,” Mariano reported.
“Advancing in the direction of the greenhouse,” Yael confirmed. “Hurry!” she urged Daniel.
“Stopped. Thirty feet away from you,” Mariano reported, and Yael repeated his words again.
“That’s all,” Daniel whispered, “I’m at the end.”
Yael shook her head. “Not good. Pack it up!”
Daniel pulled the cable out of the air duct.
