As planned they met Florence Bousquet and Philippe Dubosc in the bar at the Sheraton the follow evening and after drinks left in high spirits for a Yemeni restaurant on Shabazi Street that had been recommended to them by David Elquayam.
Bousquet was in a celebratory mood, they had filmed thirty hours of interviews with Shimon Perez, who had spoken of his childhood in the Ukraine, his arrival in Israel and the Israeli-Arab wars when he had been an army general before becoming a politician. Bousquet was more than the cultural editor of Le Monde she was a natural communicator, close to politicians, spin doctors and the string pullers of the media world.
‘So what are you doing in Israel Pat? I can’t believe that you are just tourists.’
‘We’re doing some research for a book project.’
‘Ah, a new book!’
‘No…just working on some ideas.’
‘Hertzfeld is your publisher?’
‘Yes.’
O’Connelly was careful not to unveil his project, news of his plans could precipitate all those short of ideas into the breech, which was the last thing his publisher or he himself would want.
‘So it’s secret!’ she said pretending to drop the subject.
‘No, it’s just we haven’t any fixed ideas for the moment.’
‘Well if it’s about Israel, it won’t go unnoticed.’
‘What about Perez, it would be a good subject for a biography?’
‘First a two part documentary for television, then perhaps a book.’
The taxi had dropped them at the restaurant in what appeared to be a less prosperous district of Tel-Aviv, where the passers-bye seemed to be composed of Arabs, Ethiopians and Indians. It was very oriental compared to the other restaurants they had eaten in, the waiters were dressed in traditional Yemeni costumes and the menu was composed of with spicy dishes that they did not recognise from the extreme south of the Arabian Peninsula. The atmosphere was completed by a small group of musicians playing oriental music.
‘Well Pat when your ready let me know so that we can give an advance review.’
‘It’ll probably be ready for release in autumn next year.’
‘With two million copies, translated into thirty-six languages with film planned?’
‘Who knows,’ O’Connelly replied laughing.
‘What about you?’ he asked Florence. ‘What’s your next project.’
‘Well, sitting in Paris is not really my thing, once we’ve got the interview to the studios Philippe will look after the production, then I will be free, you know the usual things, art, music, books, films and the rest, but in a month’s time I’m off to Libya.’
‘Libya?’
‘Yes, on the footsteps of the Egyptian civilization.’
‘In Libya.’
‘Yes, Arte the Franco-German channel has produced a documentary on the Sahara before it was a desert, so I’ve been invited to make an introductory presentation.’
‘Sounds really interesting.’
‘It is, because before being a desert the Sahara was teeming with animals and Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, but the most interesting is archaeologists and anthropologists now believe these peoples settled on the banks of the Nile as the climate became dryer and were the ancestors of the ancient Egyptians.’
‘Fantastic!’
‘If it interests you why don’t you come along?’
Laura hopefully looked at O’Connelly.
‘I’d love to join you, but it depends on our work here. I have to earn a living.’
‘Do kid me you’re hard up,’ Florence said pulling his leg.
‘No, but I do need to top up my bank account from time to time.’
‘Think about it, remember if you’re writing about Israel, the Egyptians played an important role in the history of ancient Israel, and many Jews immigrated to the Greek and Roman colonies in and around Leptis Magna.’
‘Maybe I’ll take you up on the offer, in the meantime we have to do our research work here.
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Sacrifice
The Legacy of Solomon Page 22