The Masada Faktor

by Naomi Litvin

  Israel offered blood, humanitarian aid, and medical supplies to Gaza, but they refused it all. It was the end of July and Israel was continuing to destroy tunnels between Gaza and Israel. Egypt decided to do the same. They destroyed thirteen tunnels which cut Gaza off from Egypt.

  Hamas needed the Rafah border with Egypt opened to transfer goods, money, and weapons into Gaza. If they couldn’t get it open, their survival was in jeopardy. The United Nations seemed to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to talk the parties into a truce.

  Gaza was demanding an airport, among other things. We were afraid that an airport in Gaza would bring in more weapons from Iran and even get fighter jets to them.

  Israel wanted the tunnels completely destroyed. Was this our modern day Masada? I had not heard anyone mentioning a comparison. The last thing I wanted was to be accused of trying to capitalize on this war in any way, so I kept my mouth shut about Mother’s mystery.

  But then Arthur phoned to tell me something important. “The Shin Bet said that the IDF had prevented a cataclysmic event. The Shin Bet had evidence which had been brought forward that there was a planned September attack to take place during Rosh Hashanah, the New Year high holidays.”

  Arthur continued, “There were to be thousands of terrorists surreptitiously sneaking into Israel through dozens of tunnels from beneath Gaza and all attacking at the same time. They would have been in IDF uniforms and surged like rats all over Israel to kidnap and murder as many Israelis as possible. I don’t think that the Shin Bet has disclosed the exact extent of Hamas’ plan.”

  With a sharp intake of breath, I said. “Arthur? Is it possible? That the Gaza War is The Masada Faktor?”

  If a shrug had a sound, it would have been Arthur’s voice saying, “They are investigating what they have on The Masada Faktor.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  With Saul and his alter ego Absalom out of the picture and Tajir in custody, I was at loose ends as to what to do next. Arthur and I agreed that the Israel Defense Force, Shin Bet, and other Israeli government agencies were in charge and we trusted that they knew what they were doing. Arthur had discussed The Masada Faktor at length with them, and I did feel some relief.

  I supposed that Tajir must have been broken down by now, otherwise the Shin Bet would have contacted me. If they believed they have gotten most of the intelligence out of Tajir that would be enough. Of course I was guessing.

  A few days later Dalia phoned. “Arthur and I have a secret that I must tell you and you must swear to uphold it and not tell anyone. Arthur says it is time to tell you that both of us have been in the Sherut Habitachon Haklali or Shabak, the internal counterespionage and counterintelligence agency known as the Shin Bet for many years. We are retired now but we still do consulting for the agency.”

  I wasn’t shocked that Arthur was in Shin Bet but stunned that Dalia was. But then it made sense, with her moxie that she would be, too. So, I deduced I had been debriefed by the Shin Bet after all.

  “Dalia, I am surprised. It is not that I didn’t think you were brave enough to be the Shin Bet, just that I thought you were busy raising children all these years.” I didn’t want to sound condescending in any way to her.

  Dalia went on “Our motto is Defends and Shall Not Be Seen. We want you to know we trust you. We are only concerned with your safety and it had been agreed upon by our superiors that at this point you, Natasha, are the only person in danger from what is left of the people from The Masada Faktor.”

  And that only pointed to one person: Millie Stone. Great, I thought, this is just what I didn’t need to hear.

  “The problem,” Dalia added, “is that they don’t have the resources at this time to protect you. I suggest you come to stay with us in Jerusalem.”

  I felt incredibly weary at that point. “No, Dalia, I just can’t face moving again. I have moved four times in less than six months. I will stay put and defend myself. Can I borrow a gun and will you show me how to use it?”

  Dalia agreed. “We will give you a Glock 19 and spend some time with you at a shooting range. But you must promise us not to carry the gun we are giving you while traveling. Just keep it in the house. And remember, our invitation stands for as long as you need protection.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  During the fourth week of the war France sent eight million Euros to Gaza in aid. Hamas leaders were being killed and the fighting had intensified. There were massive blackouts in Gaza as fuel tanks outside the Gaza power plant were struck. Hamas fighters were still coming out of tunnels with huge amounts of explosives and weapons.

  More Gazan schools and hospitals supposedly used for shelters were found to be housing rockets and terrorists. Egypt was still trying to broker a peace deal, but the Palestinian factions were arguing about who had been officially invited.

  On the last day of July an additional 18,000 reserve IDF were called up bringing the total to 84,000. There seemed to be no end in sight. The Gaza death toll was 1,346. Fifty-six IDF personnel and three Israelis were dead.

  The Israel haters could not be more incensed about the amount of Gazan dead. Of course, all over the world they were complaining about disproportionate force. It was ugly but Hamas wouldn’t stop despite their losses. American weapons stored in Israel for the United States were transferred for Israel’s use.

  It was August 1 and I was waiting at the Central Bus Station in Hadera. The day before a seventy-two hour humanitarian ceasefire had begun at 8:00 AM. Five minutes before the ceasefire was to start Hamas sent a barrage of rockets flying into Israel, just for good measure. This ceasefire was to last for seventy-two hours.

  I felt like I had to get out of Hadera for the day. It was taking entirely too long for the #921 bus to arrive. It was 8:18 AM and I was already dripping with sweat. My lovely new dress purchased on my last trip to Jerusalem was starting to feel limp. Heavy gray clouds hung in the morning sky. The air was still and humid. It had been quiet since yesterday so I thought a day trip was in order.

  Others also looked impatient waiting for the #921 bus. We all seemed to be eyeing each other warily, as if thinking about who might be the one to break the ceasefire.

  Who is an Arab and who is a Jew? What about the unarmed IDF soldiers? Could they be a target here? Just yesterday in Jerusalem a motorcyclist with an automatic weapon shot an unarmed soldier who was waiting for a bus, and the shooter had gotten away.

  I saw a soldier hugging his father in what looked like an emotional goodbye. I asked God to protect him.

  Finally, the bus arrived and we boarded and took our seats. The thought of seeing Haifa again made me anxious since the last time I was there, two months ago, I had to run for my life. These thoughts swirled around inside my brain as the #921 drove out of Hadera and up Highway 4. I would not go into Haifa, only switch buses there to get to Safed.

  The day was quiet, no one approached me, and I didn’t see anything to be alarmed about, although I was nervous. I talked myself into enjoying the day.

  The only altercation that I had in Safed was in the synagogue in the town square. I had entered ‘sleeveless,’ and a man ran up to me with a shawl so that I could cover up and be decent. I wanted to say something nasty to him but since I was a guest in their synagogue, I didn’t.

  I got back late and then heard from Lior what had happened in the news. An hour after I had left for Safed, a suicide bomber and several Hamas gunmen had come out of a tunnel in Rafah and attacked the elite Givati Brigade, killing two Israeli soldiers and capturing one, which set off a series of events that killed a lot of Gazans. Rockets hadn’t stopped flying into Israel and the ceasefire ended.

  A few days later, the Prime Minister announced no more ceasefires until all the tunnels were destroyed. I was having a hard time keeping up with the news as to what was happening in Gaza. I was staying up late and sleeping late in the morning.

  Going out for groceries only when necessary and getting back as soon as possible was m
y mode of operation. One day I waited too long to go for supplies and got overheated and disoriented. I became lost only a few blocks from the house. I phoned Lior but I couldn’t describe where I was. When I finally found the grocery, I stayed inside in the air conditioning for a long time.

  On August 4 we had a seven hour humanitarian ceasefire and during that time there was an incident in Jerusalem where an Arab drove an industrial tractor digger into a pedestrian, bus, and car. Then the Arab was killed by police.

  We wondered when those types of attacks were going to start in the cities. Israel had said it would not negotiate while under fire but then changed its mind and another ceasefire was again tried.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  I was waiting for the #57 bus at the Hadera Central Bus Station to get to Netanya. The bus was late. A young IDF soldier carrying his automatic weapon sat down on the bench next to me. I could see the big gold bullets, which I had never noticed before, in the chamber of his weapon. I had seen many, many soldiers, male and female, carrying automatic weapons but never noticed seeing the bullets.

  A second soldier joined us. We waited for the bus together. They both wore yarmulkes, or kippahs as they are called in Israel. The dome-like cap is worn in deference to God.

  The soldiers were young but confident. The first soldier’s name was Eli, and we ended up deciding to become Facebook friends. Eli told me he was going home for Shabbat and wanted to tell his uncle, who was single, about me. I was all for it.

  The bus arrived twenty-five minutes late. I chose a window seat. The temperature outside was eighty-six degrees. I was still thinking in Fahrenheit, simply couldn’t help it. The humidity was rising. I heard Hebrew and Russian being spoken.

  I was looking upward into the sky. What if I saw a rocket? The bus driver had his radio set to the news. My Hebrew had improved. I could understand much of what I heard but was still struggling with the verbal. Ashdod took a hit on a gas station that morning.

  Trying to pinpoint my emotions at that moment I noticed that I felt an immense solidarity with my country and was so proud of our ability to defend ourselves. The rising Third Intifada was already being fought in the media with propaganda and psychological warfare. I was getting so tired of the whole situation and wondering when it would end. We were about to pass the Laniado and Olga Interchange.

  I was headed for Laniado Hospital, which was on the way to Netanya, because of an interesting email I’d received. It was about a possible connection related to the founder of the Laniado Hospital who, like Mother’s father, was from Cluj, Romania in Western Transylvania and ended up in Auschwitz.

  The writer of the email explained that her father was the founder of the hospital. He was a rabbi who lost his first wife, their eleven children, and most of his followers at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust, and had known Mother’s father before the War. The rabbi survived and went to America, then Netanya. In 1975 he founded this hospital to be run according to Jewish Law. He had since died, but this daughter who wrote to me, worked at the hospital and wanted to meet me.

  Mother’s father had been involved with the Satmar Rebbe clan in Transylvania and yes, it was quite possible that he knew this Rabbi. But for someone to contact me about this connection from seventy to eighty years ago sounded convoluted to me. It seemed fishy and I would be on guard, but my curiosity could not keep me away.

  I needed to get off at the Olga Interchange and take a connecting bus. I didn’t know a thing about Laniado Hospital so I did my due diligence the night before online. I found that the hospital had triaged many wounded people after a multitude of terrorist attacks and suicide bombings during the Second Intifada.

  During that time, there were twenty Netanya-area suicide bombings, including the Passover massacre of 2002 by Hamas at the Park Hotel. That one was considered the deadliest in the Second Intifada when thirty civilians and 140 were injured.

  In 2002 Operation Defensive Shield was launched in the West Bank to try to stop the suicide bombings in Israel. Looking for any underlying connections to the reason I was being led to the Laniado Hospital, I considered whether there was some comparison between the current Operation Protective Edge and the previous Operation Defensive Shield.

  I was over thinking everything. Perhaps nothing was connected to The Masada Faktor and everything was simply random. Arthur had said that the Shin Bet felt that the Masada Faktor was handled, except for Millie. I felt like I was losing my mind. But as long as Millie Stone was still out there, I needed to follow every lead.

  And so I made my way to the hospital. I would go in and look around and see if anything happened. Instinctively, I felt like the person who sent the email was Millie and not the Rabbi’s daughter. In case that turned out to be true, I texted Arthur to let him know where I was going, just in case.

  When I got to the hospital I went directly to the cafeteria and ordered an iced tea. This was a huge medical complex serving a population of 450,000. I supposed that because I had posted photos of myself online, that whoever was to meet me might know what I looked like.

  The email had said that the person would meet me in the cafeteria, but I had no idea what the person meeting me would look like. Unless, of course, it was Millie Stone.

  It was the designated time, and I sat there drinking my iced tea while looking at the hustle bustle of this amazing place. Then a woman with blonde hair sat down at my table. She didn’t say a word, she was simply glaring at me.

  I did a double take, suddenly realizing it was Millie. She was dressed in a tan trench coat despite the hot temperature. I was staring at her, as she wore a long blond wig and heavy makeup.

  There was no doubt it was her, no mistaking that German accent when she said, “So we meet again.” Millie’s eyes were darting around which reminded me of the first time we had met.

  “Again with the mystery? What do you want, Millie?” I was in no mood to play games.

  “You are going to come with me,” a sing-song tone to her voice seemed higher pitched than normal and she had an odd aura about her, almost calm but extremely intense.

  “No, I am not! I am not going anywhere with you Millie.” I was adamant. “Tell me once and for all how deeply you are involved in the conspiracy to destroy Israel!”

  That seemed to anger her as she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You will come with me now, or I will detonate the suicide belt that I am wearing under this coat, and you and everyone in this hospital will blow.”

  We both stood up at the same time and she put her arm in my arm and smiled. Loudly announcing, “It is so good to see you darling, let’s go for a walk.”

  She gave the impression that she knew where she was taking me. There was a park like setting on the medical campus in the distance. She led me holding tightly to my arm and we walked for a long time until we reached a pond with a bench.

  I heard birds chirping and the breeze was sweetened by some flowers, but I realized that I didn’t know their names. I thought that if I made it through this day alive, I would make an effort to learn all about Israel’s flowers and birds. First I would go to the Botanical Gardens in Jerusalem and then …

  Millie pulled me hard toward a bench, disrupting my thoughts about birds and flowers and we sat down. People walked by us, not suspecting that she was ready to explode.

  “You killed Saul!” Millie hissed, actually spitting on me.

  “No, Millie, Saul committed suicide.” I was breathing deeply, trying to stay calm and wiping her saliva off of my face.

  “You are responsible. You killed him! And you are responsible for Tajir being in police custody.”

  “I have an idea about what happened to you Millie, and I am sorry that your childhood was stolen from you, the same as it was from Saul. But it is not my fault. What do you want from me?” I didn’t know what to say to her. She was clearly insane.

  I thought about my life and how it could be ending shortly. I wondered if anyone would miss me. Perhaps I had to accept the
way my life was going to end. But I had things to do. Stuff to accomplish. I was still discovering my talents and abilities and hadn’t yet gotten married. If I died on this day, that would be it. I told myself I had to fight. Mother would want me to fight.

  “You think you are so smart.” Millie’s eyes were rolling around, she seemed to be watching everything at once but at the same time she looked terribly out of control.

  I knew at this point that Millie was homicidal but wasn’t sure if she was actually suicidal. I had to keep her talking. “Tell me everything Millie, please. I am ready to die if that is what you want but you may as well explain.”

  “Okay, you bitch, I will tell you. Why not? I loved Saul and he loved me. We were going to be together. We met five years ago and we have spent lots of time together all over the world. It was all planned. As soon as we found out if you told anyone about The Masada Faktor and then dispose of you, we would each have received our million dollars. And it would have been our time to be together.”