by Nathan Ronen
Before the operational personnel moved into the suites, members of Neviot, the Office’s surveillance division, scanned the furniture and walls with a special electronic device to make sure they did not contain any bugs. In addition, a mysterious device approximately the size of a Rumba was positioned at the center of the room in order to block and disrupt all known surveillance devices by creating acoustic saturation.
Members of Kidon Unit, a special operational team of elite combat warriors, landed in London from various locations in Europe, bearing different passports. The two suites they occupied took up an entire floor, with an internal connecting door between them, and were large enough to house a large group consisting of about twenty people. Such suites were popular among large Muslim families coming to visit London. The war room was housed in the suite’s living room, while cyber warriors and Kidon agents were allocated bedrooms used in shifts lasting twelve hour each. Food was served on trays from a kosher Jewish catering service located in the distant Golders Green neighborhood.
A Jumbo 747 plane from the Israeli CAL Cargo Airlines flew in special operational equipment, transported in giant diplomatic mail pouches, to warehouses located near the Israeli Embassy in London. Special anti-surveillance lead curtains were installed in the apartment and cork boards were hung on the walls. A powerful computer system with a VPN67 connection was installed in order to create secure, encrypted access to the Office’s organizational network in Israel.
Members of the Technological Division had arrived as a preliminary force and set up the war room in the large suite’s living room. At its center was a Faraday Cage, enclosed on every side with special anti-surveillance lead curtains. Maps of the city of London and the last known photos of Iman al-Uzbeki and his deputy were affixed to the cork boards. The windows, constantly kept closed, were also covered with thin aluminum sheets serving as mirrors and preventing infiltration of invisible-spectrum laser beams intended to enable surveillance from the outside.
The Technological Division’s technical teams installed a system to intercept satellite communications on the roof of the building, as well as special antennas intended to pick up any internet communication by terrorist cells, which would execute their plots using the Dark Net: an anonymous, clandestine network.
The entire array of antennas on the roof was concealed in a cloth cover for multi-spectral camouflage that resembled a tent of sorts and hid its contents from curious satellites cruising the skies. The ‘tent’ was made of a special textile fabric that absorbed light and heat, and also had an advanced electro-optical means that made the forces and their equipment ‘disappear.’
Swift used cars in boring colors that would effectively blend into their surroundings awaited the agents in a nearby rented parking garage. They included a blue Audi and a white Ford Edge. Next to them were parked a green commercial van and a black TX4 camouflaged as a London taxi in good condition, as well as two powerful, fast motorcycles, a black Ducati, and a green Kawasaki.
These diverse vehicles were intended to serve the team members, who would have to respond rapidly to any event. Each of the field operatives was assigned a tiny communication device, half the size of a box of matches and containing a nano-transmitter, attached via clip to the belt of their pants. An invisible earpiece was inserted deep into the ear, transmitting via Bluetooth 4 technology and connected through a hotspot to their secured Chameleon cell phone, which scrambled the signals.
The head of the Mossad’s London bureau was nicknamed ‘Tarzan’ due to his surprising resemblance to actor Johnny Weissmuller and the fact that in his youth he had been an Israeli swimming champion. He handed out light sunglasses that were, in fact, tiny cameras transmitting to the command shelter and the operation HQ what each agent saw. In full darkness, the glasses became a virtual reality (VR) device that allowed users to impose a virtual layer of objects (holograms) upon the real world. Microsoft’s new operating system allowed the glasses to broadcast a three-dimensional image in thermal colors. At night, this made it possible to distinguish between warm, moving objects and ones that did not generate heat.
As they made their way through the operatives, the embassy’s security officers tuned the devices to a VHF-F4 frequency band in order to allow the command post to see and hear everything effectively.
Glock 17 pistols and extra magazines, which had arrived by diplomatic mail, were distributed to Kidon’s male fighters, while the female fighters received the more compact Glock 26. Each field agent received a massive Kevlar ceramic vest to wear below their shirts. It contained a leather sheath intended to thoroughly conceal their weapons.
Dr. Yuli Ebenstein and his team had arrived a few days earlier, accompanied by Technical Division personnel and a crew of hackers, including the twins, Nina and Yahli Lev, who were the whiz kids of the Mossad’s Talpiot team. Unlike past missions, the Technological Division team members were assigned the main room for their needs.
The members of Digital Fortress, the Office’s cyberwarfare division, were not experts in espionage or ground missions, despite the fact that their work formed a part of Caesarea agents’ espionage and field operations in real time and in a support capacity. Their work always lacked operational glamour. However, this time the head of the division hoped that the nature of the mission might lean in their direction.
Nina and Yahli infiltrated the networks by surfing through e-commerce sites with the enthusiasm of a hound dog tracking its prey. With a few keyboard clicks, they could make a city go dark or cause machines to rebel against their masters. They knew how to establish fake, secured e-commerce sites to found shell companies and to provide network services through server farms located in various countries. The head of the Mossad’s Financial Division never had any complaints about them. Their activity had allowed him to open a secret “Mossad Director Fund,” far from the prying eyes of the Treasury’s clerks and inspectors. All in all, the Mossad’s hackers had managed to steal significant sums of money from terrorist organizations’ secret accounts, amassing more money for the Mossad Director’s Fund than crime organizations made from drugs or prostitution. Most importantly, there was no need to launder these funds, as the police and law authorities were not even looking for them. Their slogan was, “If you don’t believe something exists, you won’t try to stop it.”
Around evening time, Ruhama Saltzman, head of the Office’s Diagnostics and Psychology Branch, arrived at the suite accompanied by her colleague, clinical psychologist Ruthie Ben Ephraim.
At midnight, the last members of the special operational team arrived by taxi. They were the Three Graces, who had flown in via Madrid dressed up as silly Spanish tourists chattering loudly to each other about matters of fashion. No one would ever guess that Lia, Ella, and Alma were skilled field operatives who had previously served as search and rescue instructors at IDF’s anti-terrorism school. They were also proficient in Krav Maga, as well as Hisardut.68 Among members of the Office’s Kidon Unit, they were also nicknamed “the Monkey Team” due to their talent for climbing to great heights and silently breaking into homes.
Tal Ronen convened all combat teams, technical crews, technology and cyber personnel, psychologists, and command post operators in the main living room of the safe house. There were not enough chairs. Some were left standing while others settled down on the floor. Arik Bar-Nathan came in and gazed at them affectionately as he started his briefing.
“‘It doesn’t matter how slowly you move toward your destination as long as you keep walking.’ Cornfield would quote that saying to us before we embarked on any operation.
“I won’t go into the detailed plan, which will shortly be conveyed to you by the head of Caesarea, Tal Ronen,” he began. “I also won’t be getting into the resolution of the scenario analysis flowchart, which you’ll do within your organic teams after receiving advance authorization from Caesarea. I only want to tell you how I see what we’re facing here, generally speakin
g.
“My late father, who was a cobbler by profession, told me, ‘Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to do a clean job.’ I want you all to note that this time our target is Iman al-Uzbeki, considered a highly dangerous arch-terrorist, a mass murderer, and a bomb expert. We have reliable information that he’s here or is on his way here to carry out a major terrorist attack. He’s never attacked only one target. He has one main target along with several sub-targets that are diversionary tactics, set in motion before the main event, in order to divert emergency services to them. So, don’t hesitate to get your hands dirty.”
Everyone nodded, and Arik continued. “We’ll deploy multi-disciplinary networks and seek out this man and his close associates. He himself probably won’t leave behind fingerprints, but it’s possible that the many assistants he recruits in the service of his complex operation will talk or leave a trail behind. Therefore, the Brits have greenlighted our collaboration with GCHQ, British intelligence’s main surveillance unit, as well as with analysts from MI5, the British internal security service.
“With all due respect, all of us love tech innovations, but I want to remind you that, ultimately, you have to get physically close to the object of your interest. Phone taps, network hacking, cyber work… all that is important, but we’re dealing with people, and we have to touch them. That means Sisyphean groundwork including stakeouts, tailing, questioning passersby and neighbors, and making eye contact with the object himself. It’s work that requires patience, persistence, and interaction with people you probably wouldn’t choose as your friends. However, our guiding principle is teamwork, which means synergetic work. Watch over each other, and mostly, make it quick, powerful, and elegant.”
Arik went on to introduce the members of all the assembled teams. He then turned to the psychologists, asking them to present a profile of al-Uzbeki, one that one would include a biography, psychological analysis, core belief system, and emotional and physical background.
In closing, Arik introduced the attendees to Masha Kramer, an analyst from the Mossad’s Intelligence Division. Masha rose from her seat with a pleasant smile, bowing theatrically to everyone. Her outfit indicated that she was an ultra-Orthodox woman.
“Although she looks young, she already has five grandkids. Mrs. Kramer is a walking encyclopedia of information on every terrorist organization currently in existence worldwide. Etty Levkovich, a long-timer you’re all familiar with, will be in charge of operating our war room here.
“As for you, Masha,” he turned to her, “I ask that you try to draw us a portrait of the people we’re facing here. Assemble a representation of it on this corkboard here so that we can understand who we’re dealing with.”
Masha turned to face the group, asking, “Does anyone here have any initial ideas on how to find a needle in a haystack?”
No one replied.
“If it’s a riddle,” Masha said, “why don’t we call it ‘Operation Enigma’?”
Arik smiled in agreement.
* * *
67Virtual Private Network
68Also known as Dennis Survival, this Israeli martial art combines several existing martial arts, including judo, Kyukoshinkai karate, jiu jitsu and self-defense.
Chapter 46
Operation Enigma
Arik was not the operation’s commander. He was a sort of chairman of the board of directors who was supposed to guide a CEO while allowing him to work on his own. However, Arik was a perfectionist and would be the first to admit that he had a hard time relinquishing control, delegating authority, and allowing Tal Ronen to run the operation himself.
Arik had never engaged in a true internal reckoning on whether the hunt for Iman al-Uzbeki was more than just another mission to him. Did he want to make up for his wounded ego after the Morocco operation? Perhaps he wanted to prove that the boy from a poor neighborhood, the son of Holocaust survivors and blue-collar workers, was just as good as those who had grown up with a silver spoon in their mouths in aristocratic English families.
He realized he had to grant Tal Ronen space, control, and authority without casting his own large shadow, but he did not have an easy time doing so. He justified it with the thought that while all his team members were highly skilled, by nature, they were soloists capable of working alone or in a small group under conditions of uncertainty. Therefore, he felt it was his role to make it all come together. Failure was not an option as far as he was concerned.
Dr. Yuli Ebenstein began his portion of the meeting, looking at his cyber warriors and the entire forum.
“We’re starting this operation like blind people stuck in a dark chimney. But this failure actually constitutes the best raw material for building success.”
His people, the Digital Fortress crew, gazed at him in admiration.
He looked back at them, continuing, “The only way to avoid mistakes is to do nothing. Forget all the reasons why it won’t work and think of one good reason that will make you believe it’s going to happen.”
Judging by their expressions, the Kidon warriors did not like these philosophical musings, which sounded hollow to them.
Yuli looked at Arik and at Tal Ronen. “I think we should cast a wide net that will catch plenty of fish. Some of them will prove relevant, while others will be tossed back into the sea of data. Once the world was flooded with user-friendly technology, it also became friendly to the hunters. Not only has technology canceled out each person’s personal identity and unique individuality, it also tore your life wide open, plucked out your guts, and stole any pretense of privacy,” he said. “I propose we go into all internet cafés in areas where Muslim immigrants live and infect them with our Spartacus software, which locates anyone trying to surf under a false identity.
“Imagine we’re seeking a mole in the dark. Think of the lair that’s most appropriate for it to burrow deeply into.”
Arik nodded, as if in confirmation, and Tal, too, had to agree.
“Fortunately, we have the ‘Big Head’ system that our Technological Division has developed. It’s an evolving artificial intelligence system,” Yuli continued. “I believe that if I input it with information about Iman al-Uzbeki and any intel you can get your hands on, the system can generate a series of hypotheses for us, check the registration of anyone who has recently entered the UK, check anyone currently staying in British hospitals, jails, hotels or inns, flight and public transportations records, school enrollment, new people who have signed up in the last six months for classes in London’s mosques, and new teachers who have arrived there, as well as comparing photos taken by Border Control inspectors to our target database, assessing changes to facial structure if anyone had plastic surgery done.”
Etty Levkovich, manager of the command post and an illustrious field operative who was no big expert on cyber systems and computers mockingly asked, “Why exactly do we think it’s pertinent if someone signed up for a class on Islam at a mosque? Why should that interest anyone?”
Yuli gazed at her with the patience of a grandson who constantly found himself having to explain the wonders of technology to his grandmother. “Because the mosque’s financial management is going to seek support from the British Department for Education in the form of various reimbursements and discounts. Therefore, they also have to report the names of course instructors, and whether they have a work permit from the British Ministry of Labor if they’re not British citizens.
“We’ll collect all this seemingly trivial data, which will be cross-referenced dynamically and autonomously with no human involvement, based on location, time, photos, and database information so that the Big Data algorithms can provide us with a set of rules that will help the system improve and learn in real time, constantly evolving. Other algorithms will track shopping at major chains. Fertilizers, for example, are an indication of a purchase that might be a basis for making explosives. Large cash paym
ents always make me immediately suspicious of the purchaser, who’s trying to avoid providing personal information. We track networks of Islamic activists, funds, and organizations that might be hiding activists using social networks to recruit sympathetic supporters, spreading information, or contacting each other with encoded communications. After processing the material, the software might propose possible courses of action by assigning them low, medium, or high probability. Simple, right?”
Masha Kramer and Etty Levkovich, the war room’s ‘old ladies,’ gazed at him like children staring at a magician performing tricks and sleight-of-hand for their benefit. They were ‘old school,’ relying more heavily on memory and files full of documents and photos.
Tal Ronen noted, “I, for one, want to recruit London’s police force to help us without their knowledge. I want to plant false arrest warrants in Scotland Yard’s computer system for the terrorists we’ll uncover. Every time a police officer stops a vehicle to check its paperwork, he or she automatically checks the driver and whether there’s a warrant for that person’s arrest in the system. The officer thus becomes a hunter at our service. That wouldn’t be a problem for your team, would it?”
Yuli looked at him curiously, trying to figure out where the head of Caesarea was heading with this.
“I also want you to infiltrate the Old Bailey Courthouse, London’s main criminal court, with hacking equipment,” Tal specified, “and activate our wireless password-hacking software there.”
“Why?” Yuli wondered.
“To create a little tempest in a teapot,” Tal Ronen explained with a grin. “I want you to connect to the courthouse’s secure Wi-Fi network, reserved for judges, district attorneys, and court clerks.”