force. He was 62, medium height, bald and powerfully built. Having retired from the armed forces he, like many ex military, went into politics and served as a minister in several coalition governments. He was close to Amos, though he belonged to a different party – what the Prime Minister jokingly called “The crazy friendly right wing”.
“ I suggest that we send several planes to see what is going on. We will meet here in three hours and decide what to do next. I don’t think that we can stay in this strange state for much longer – the world will notice and we’ll blow our most effective secret weapon.” Amos looked at the others for comments. When none came, he announced the meeting closed, but not before warning everybody to keep quiet about the Shield and the subject of the meeting.
***
Several F15 planes equipped with high resolution cameras left their Israeli base at close to four fifteen in the morning. The sun was shining and it looked like another cloudless June day in the Middle East. One plane went northeast, over Syria and Iraq; the other directly east, over Jordan, and the third south and then southwest over the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt. The pilots were given instructions to turn back within thirty minutes. They would also report by radio if they saw something unusual. This was Zvi Kaplan’s idea – he remembered that the radio broadcasts would not be heard by anybody else but the Israeli receivers which were as out of phase as the transmitters in the planes. It was considered vital to turn the Shield off as soon as possible so as not make its existence known to everybody.
***
Sergeant Uri Dayan was tired, and it took him a moment to come back from the peaceful dream he was enjoying. The field phone was chirping. His infantry unit was on constant alert for infiltration and kidnapping attempts from the Gaza strip. After the latest bout of fighting, with Hamas temporarily beaten down, the situation was less tense than it had been in several years, but you could never know. Gaza was lawless and some group of thugs might decide this was a good day to start a fight.
He picked up the field phone: “Uri here.”
“Sir, sorry to wake you, but something happened.”
“ What time is it?” Uri asked.
“ Two forty three,” the soldier on the other side responded.
“ OK. Go ahead. What’s so important?”
“ Sergeant, all the lights on the other side of the fence went out. I think I can see something on the horizon, but I’m not sure.” The soldier was quiet, waiting for Uri’s response.
“ You should always identify yourself.” Uri responded automatically. He knew the caller for at least ten years of reserve service, but protocol and discipline were important. “Are you sure ALL the lights are out? Can you see any movement?”
“ No movement on instruments or plain optics. It is possible that the instruments are on the blink, but we don’t see any buildings there either.”
“ Ok, keep looking. Call me if anything changes.”
His phone was chirping again: “Uri here.”
“Sarge, this is tower three. All the lights on the other side went out about two minutes ago.”
“ I know. We are working on it now,” said Uri. This is how he kept up the myth of an all-seeing and all-knowing platoon sergeant.
He shook awake the soldier on the bunk next to him: “Call tower one and verify that the lights on the other side went out. Also tell them I am mad that they didn’t call me about it. I am going to wake the Chief. Oh, if they say the lights are on, come in and tell me. And please get the coffee going.”
Uri pushed aside the curtain that separated Lieutenant No am Shaviv’s closet-sized office from the rest of the bunker. The lieutenant was sitting on his bed, pulling on his boots. He paused for a moment and faced Uri: “What exactly are the reports?”
Uri repeated the reports.
“OK, I’m going to tower one to take a look. Get a couple of guys to come with me. Start a
“ I suggest that we send several planes to see what is going on. We will meet here in three hours and decide what to do next. I don’t think that we can stay in this strange state for much longer – the world will notice and we’ll blow our most effective secret weapon.” Amos looked at the others for comments. When none came, he announced the meeting closed, but not before warning everybody to keep quiet about the Shield and the subject of the meeting.
***
Several F15 planes equipped with high resolution cameras left their Israeli base at close to four fifteen in the morning. The sun was shining and it looked like another cloudless June day in the Middle East. One plane went northeast, over Syria and Iraq; the other directly east, over Jordan, and the third south and then southwest over the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt. The pilots were given instructions to turn back within thirty minutes. They would also report by radio if they saw something unusual. This was Zvi Kaplan’s idea – he remembered that the radio broadcasts would not be heard by anybody else but the Israeli receivers which were as out of phase as the transmitters in the planes. It was considered vital to turn the Shield off as soon as possible so as not make its existence known to everybody.
***
Sergeant Uri Dayan was tired, and it took him a moment to come back from the peaceful dream he was enjoying. The field phone was chirping. His infantry unit was on constant alert for infiltration and kidnapping attempts from the Gaza strip. After the latest bout of fighting, with Hamas temporarily beaten down, the situation was less tense than it had been in several years, but you could never know. Gaza was lawless and some group of thugs might decide this was a good day to start a fight.
He picked up the field phone: “Uri here.”
“Sir, sorry to wake you, but something happened.”
“ What time is it?” Uri asked.
“ Two forty three,” the soldier on the other side responded.
“ OK. Go ahead. What’s so important?”
“ Sergeant, all the lights on the other side of the fence went out. I think I can see something on the horizon, but I’m not sure.” The soldier was quiet, waiting for Uri’s response.
“ You should always identify yourself.” Uri responded automatically. He knew the caller for at least ten years of reserve service, but protocol and discipline were important. “Are you sure ALL the lights are out? Can you see any movement?”
“ No movement on instruments or plain optics. It is possible that the instruments are on the blink, but we don’t see any buildings there either.”
“ Ok, keep looking. Call me if anything changes.”
His phone was chirping again: “Uri here.”
“Sarge, this is tower three. All the lights on the other side went out about two minutes ago.”
“ I know. We are working on it now,” said Uri. This is how he kept up the myth of an all-seeing and all-knowing platoon sergeant.
He shook awake the soldier on the bunk next to him: “Call tower one and verify that the lights on the other side went out. Also tell them I am mad that they didn’t call me about it. I am going to wake the Chief. Oh, if they say the lights are on, come in and tell me. And please get the coffee going.”
Uri pushed aside the curtain that separated Lieutenant No am Shaviv’s closet-sized office from the rest of the bunker. The lieutenant was sitting on his bed, pulling on his boots. He paused for a moment and faced Uri: “What exactly are the reports?”
Uri repeated the reports.
“OK, I’m going to tower one to take a look. Get a couple of guys to come with me. Start a
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