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“Simple cost-benefit, sir. Killing Ambassador Ali gains them very little and as we are sure to see as the day progresses … it will cost them greatly in the international community.”
“That line of reasoning would work if they actually gave a rat’s ass what the international community thought, but as we saw with the attack on Hebron over the weekend … I’m not so sure they much care what the rest of the world thinks.”
Valerie Jones nodded. “I would agree.”
Several other people seconded her opinion. Secretary of State Beatrice Berg, however, dissented. “I don’t see it that way. They might think very little of the UN, but they certainly care what we think.”
The president immediately turned his attention back to Kennedy. “Everyone here is familiar with what Israel says took place in Hebron over the weekend, correct?” All the attendees nodded. Hayes turned his gaze on Kennedy. “Now, Irene, would you please share with the rest of group what really happened.”
Kennedy sighed ever so slightly. This was compartmentalized information and she had no desire to disseminate it to the various agencies represented in the room. She knew, though, that any attempt to try to convince the president otherwise would be useless. Reluctantly, she began. “Through assets on the ground and reconnaissance photographs we have discovered that there was no bomb-making factory in Hebron.” Kennedy looked through her glasses at the confused expressions of the other high-level officials. “The damage that was done was not caused by a secondary explosion.”
“Then what in the hell was it caused by?” asked Secretary of Defense Culbertson.
After a brief hesitation, Kennedy said, “Sixteen Hellfire missiles were fired into the neighborhood.”
With a confused frown on his face Culbertson asked, “Why?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” replied the president in an unfriendly tone.
“Well … what does Freidman have to say about all of this?”
The president leaned back in his chair and looked to Kennedy for the answer.
“He’s sticking with their story that there was a bomb-making factory.”
“How sure are we,” asked Secretary of State Berg, “that there was no bomb factory … that all of the damage was caused by the missiles?”
“The evidence is pretty clear-cut.”
“How clear-cut?”
Kennedy thought about the satellite images and the reports she’d received from their people on the ground. She normally preferred to avoid going too far out on a limb but on this one she felt confident. “I’d say the evidence we have convincingly contradicts the story that is being put out by the Israeli government.”
“So what you’re telling us,” interjected Culbertson, “is that we can’t trust what our only ally in the region is telling us.”
The president nodded. “That about sums it up. Beatrice, what does the Israeli ambassador have to say about last night?”
Berg had not called Prime Minister Goldberg nor had she called the Israeli ambassador. In the skilled game of diplomacy the higher-ups avoided asking questions of each other that might force lies to be told. So one of Berg’s underlings had called the deputy chief of mission for an unofficial response to the assassination of the Palestinian ambassador. The ambassador’s number-two man had dismissed any involvement by Israel as ludicrous. This was only the first round and the answer was expected. As the drama unfolded, tougher questions would be put to people with more weighty titles.
“The embassy,” started Berg, “is saying exactly what we’d expect them to say.”
“That they had no involvement,” answered the president.
Berg nodded.
“Irene,” asked the president, “what do we know about Ali? Is there any reason that we know of why the Israelis would want him killed, or more precisely why Ben Freidman would want him killed?”
“As with all things between the Israelis and the Palestinians, there is ample motive. Ali grew up in Gaza and was an active member in the terrorist group Force 17 and then later with the PLO. The Israelis claim that like Arafat, he was a terrorist and still is a terrorist. More recently there have been accusations of fund-raising for the martyr brigades and some questionable acquaintances with people who run in the wrong circles.”
“What kind of circles?” asked Hayes.
“People who deal in arms trafficking.”
Valerie Jones, who had been quiet up until now, asked, “Is that information we collected on our own, or intelligence that was provided by the Israelis?”
“That’s information we gathered through our own sources.”
“So,” began the president, “do you see anything in Ali’s recent history that would warrant Mossad wanting to kill him?”
