IDF Base
Nine days after Assassinations
Two days to Announcement
Shiri had found the letter in his pocket when he was in his room, as he was changing.
He took one look at it, recognized the handwriting, and hurried out.
He found a secluded spot far away from his residential building, propped himself against a boulder and opened it.
‘My brother,’ Magal began.
Shiri blinked. The two men were close friends, but his partner had never addressed him in that manner.
‘I have lied to you.’
His grip on the letter tightened.
‘You once asked who I was. Whether I was Israeli. I replied I was Eliel Magal. I lied about that.
I am …
Shiri peered at the letter, but it looked like his partner hadn’t completed the sentence.
He drew a sharp breath when he read the next line.
‘I am from the same country as the handler. You know that. You are, too. I belong to that country, however. It is a feeling I have never had about Israel. It is something that has grown on me as we worked with the handler and spent time with him.
Yes, I have lied about that, too. I met him on three other occasions. I didn’t tell you about them. I gave the excuse that I needed to visit my foster family in Haifa.
I reached out to him all three times. I wanted to know more of that country. Not from the Mossad dossiers or from our missions to it, but to experience it for myself like an ordinary civilian.
The handler took me to a mosque; he accompanied me as we visited historical sites. He was with me while I watched their Supreme Leader give a speech to thousands of cheering people.
I felt at home, Navon. It isn’t something I ever experienced in Israel.
You must be wondering, now, if I have become a Muslim.
I haven’t. I still remain unreligious, like you. But I think one doesn’t need to follow some religion to belong to some country.
Obviously, I now feel differently about Israel. I don’t hate it. I don’t dislike it. I feel nothing about it. It is why I have no problems in acting against the ramsad, even though he is a man I respect.
And it is because all these newfound feelings in me that I have accepted what happens next.
This is something you should know, Navon.
There is no escape from that base.
We are up against too much. Too many soldiers. Too many eyes on the ground and in the sky. Too much remoteness.
We cannot kill those Palestinians and get away alive.
Levin, Abhyan, Carter, though I am not sure how much input the American had in this decision, have beaten us by moving the negotiators to this base.
But they don’t know I will have the last laugh.
Because I am prepared to die.
That might sound strange to you, because we are kidon. We might die in a mission and are mentally conditioned to accept it, but we don’t blindly go into an operation where the only surety is that we will die.
I intend to carry out the mission of killing the Palestinians. It is my way of getting back at the country that took us in but never made us regard it as home.
Given what I have written so far, you might wonder why I still want to kill Palestinians. The answer is simple.
I distrust the handler. You are right. He will come after us if we fail. However, he is right in this mission’s objectives and its impact on Israel.
It will do maximum damage to the country and to its relationships with Middle Eastern countries and the world.
I will return, Navon, in the morning, with what we need.
You have two choices with you.
In your left pocket is another letter.’
Shiri patted his pocket. Something crinkled. There was a letter.
‘In that one, I have confessed to the first killing as well as what we are planning on the base. I have taken sole responsibility.
You can hand that letter to Carmel. She will arrest me when I return. I will never be seen again, but you will be free. No attack will happen in that eventuality, but you must get the handler. Otherwise he will ruin you.
The other choice for you is to join me. If you make that decision, keep an eye on the shift patterns.
Don’t forget that we will die.
But I think we will be the most lethal suicide bombers ever.’
Magal signed off with, ‘Your brother.’
Shiri looked at the sky, something deep welling inside him. He cleared his throat and blinked rapidly.
He folded the letter carefully and put it back in his pocket.
At two am, he had finished thinking.
He burned both letters, buried the ashes in the ground and went to his room.
He had made his decision.
He had made peace with himself and Magal.