The Masada Faktor (13 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

T
he ceasefire was an opportunity for me to go to Tel Aviv. I had missed a week of Hebrew classes but I wasn’t sure whether
Ulpan
was in session during the war. I decided to take the train from the West Hadera Railway Station. I got on a local bus first to get over there. I brought my towel and bathing suit and planned to go to Gordon Pool.

I had some fear traveling but hadn’t heard of any attacks on buses or trains so far, and I was missing Tel Aviv very much. There was a chance I might run into Millie but I had to take it to get some normalcy back.

The train was crowded, as it looked like many people had the same idea as I did. People looked happy and normal, and I took a seat on the west side to look at the Sea.

Israel had accepted the ceasefire proposed by Egypt, but Hamas announced quickly that they were not consulted and fired forty rockets into Israel in the first five hours. I didn’t know that when I had taken off for Tel Aviv but heard it from others on the train. Also, Hamas had fired rockets into Eilat from Egypt for the first time.

I was already on my way and was not going to turn back. I got to Tel Aviv and the situation on the street was normal. I was avoiding my old neighborhood where Millie’s flat was.

Instead of going to
Ulpan
, I wanted to go swimming at Gordon Pool right away and if something happened, I could follow instructions to get shelter from there. There were armed guards at the pool and signs posted in both Hebrew and English saying where to go in case of rocket attacks.

My backpack was searched and I went into the pool area and bought an Israeli iced coffee, a frozen slushy drink, at the snack bar. That really cooled me down. I chose a lounge chair and was ready to relax, soak up the sun, and do some swimming.

There were plenty of people at the pool that day, although not as many as usual. The mood was somber and people were quiet. It was a casual day except for the sky. Many Israeli Air Force jets and helicopters flew back and forth. I looked over to the Sea and the beach was busy as usual.

I was getting a bit sunburned and went into the ladies locker room to shower about 2:30. Then I had a feeling to head back. I wanted to take the #852 bus back to Hadera from Alozorov Station so that I could arrive close to the house.

The driver had a radio and something was being reported but I couldn’t understand. I asked an Anglo passenger what was going on and he said that the ceasefire was over because Hamas did not honor it. Netanyahu declared that we would resume our strikes.

The next day, July 16 Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad asked for a ten year truce with Israel. Their demands were ludicrous.

A horrible incident on a Gazan beach where four Gazan children were killed accidentally by the IDF caused a further escalation and more negative reaction from the world. Later it was realized that the boys were playing in a Hamas terrorist compound; they were seen from aerial surveillance as terrorists.

The following day, July 17 a five hour humanitarian ceasefire was proposed by the United Nations. Five and a half hours before it was to start, thirteen armed Hamas terrorists were spotted coming out of an underground tunnel outside of the Sufa
kibbutz
in the Hevel Shalom area of the north western Negev. This was also a border crossing between Israel and Gaza.

It was dawn and the Hamas incursion was 250 meters or .6 of a mile inside of Israel. The planned attack was prevented. This was one of more tunnels that had been located but what was special about this one was the extent of the possible damage planned. What was exposed was barely the tip of the iceberg. Hamas had intended to kill and kidnap residents of the
kibbutz
.

There was another Gazan drone shot down by a Patriot missile, and the Israel government decided that a ground invasion into Gaza would begin. The day after, another 18,000 reservists were called up. Everyone knew someone that had been called back to duty, including me.

Within a few days the IDF announced that it had uncovered ten more tunnels with twenty-two exit points,
and there were dozens more. They were underground terror tunnels, complex and advanced, designed to cross the border from Gaza into Israel to do maximum damage.

It was intended that entire Israeli communities would be infiltrated, mass murders would be committed, and hostages would be taken.

Hamas loved their tunnels. In fact, their most successful escapade was when they slipped into Israel through a tunnel and kidnapped Gilad Shalit on June 25, 2006. Shalit was held for five and a half years and then traded for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, and set free on October 18, 2011.

Throughout that period they sent their terrorists in training out through their Egyptian tunnels for cutting-edge Jihad instruction to Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Malaysia.

Their tunnels proved to be useful. The
Shin Bet
reported that Hamas had been building tunnels since 2000. They emulated Hezbollah, who learned this skill from Iran, masters of tunnelling deep underground to hide their nuclear plants.

On July 19 nine Hamas terrorists entered Israel through, yet another tunnel. They were wearing IDF uniforms, carrying weapons, handcuffs, syringes, and tranquilizers. Two IDF soldiers were killed by Hamas, one Hamas terrorist was killed by IDF, and the rest escaped back into the tunnel. Later, those in the tunnel were all killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Right after the last tunnel discovery there was to be a ceasefire. Something was bugging me about these underground tunnels. I had a lot of time on my hands in Hadera and tacked up all my Masada evidence on one of my bedroom walls, same as I had done in Tel Aviv.

I began anew going over my photos of the five locations at Masada. My return trip was a bust, considering I didn’t get to go back and look for more clues. Saul had not contacted me and Absalom was also quiet. We were losing more of our soldiers every day. There were more tunnel incursions and I was pretty shaken at that point.

The network of tunnels was all the Israeli public seemed focused on. Now, people were coming forward and saying that they had heard digging for a long time under their houses. Children had told their parents that they heard noises under their bedrooms.

The network of tunnels was complex, dangerous, and difficult to destroy as they had offshoots going in different areas. We were forced to realize that we had to fight Hamas on their level. They couldn’t compete with the state of the art Iron Dome, so they reverted to the subterranean methods similarly used in ancient history all over the world.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I
was sitting outside with my morning coffee and my laptop when it hit me like a thunderbolt. I had been up quite late the night before after hearing on the news that Hamas had entire underground cities. I was pouring over my Masada information to see what the five locations had in common. I felt groggy, almost like I was still asleep. I was thinking that the answer to the Masada clues were possibly right on the surface.

Each of the Masada locations contained an underground repository! At the Byzantine Church the floor contained a hidden room either used for storage or for burial.

The Old Synagogue had two hollowed out pits for the holy
Torah
and there was also a cavity in the floor that housed relics.

At the Columbarium Towers, behind the dovecotes were steps that lead down to a lower area that would have been underground and used for a warehouse.

The Northern Palace contained a storeroom with three subterranean craters that were discovered in the plastered floors.

And The Large bathhouse’s hypocaust, the heating and ventilation system was all underground.

The Masada locations that Absalom had sent me to all contained cellars, storerooms, clandestine areas, like the Hamas tunnels. Different but similar.

The morning sun was already blazing but I started to shiver. It was a shocking realization. I sent Absalom a message on Facebook. Could this be the connection? Had Absalom sent me to Masada to the five locations that had the underground storage and pits so that I would see the tunnel connection? How did he know? Who was he in contact with?

Absalom had given me the underground location clues before the massive tunnels were unearthed in the Gaza War. I had to chat with him again.

Natasha: “Hi. Are you there?”

Absalom. “Yes, what’s up, besides me? I have a big hard-on for you.”

Natasha: “Can you be serious for a moment? It’s important that you answer my questions about the underground locations at Masada. Why did you lead me to them?”

Absalom: “You don’t think my sexual needs are important?”

Natasha: “Why do you keep changing the subject?”

I was completely disgusted with him at this point. I was also disgusted with myself for getting sucked into an online sexual affair.

I thought I’d figured out who Absalom was by spending many hours analyzing his Twitter followers and those that he followed. I read every tweet that he had published since he began his account. And then I found someone with many similarities and whose tweeting times corresponded with Absalom’s.

Through a process of elimination between Twitter and Facebook accounts I had decided that in reality, he was Avraham, a married man with three children from Modi’in, a city not far from Jerusalem. Finally, I was ready to confront him as to his identity.

Natasha: “I know you are Avraham. You live in Modi’in with your wife and three children. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sara. I just need to know who you are working with. Please tell me.”

Absalom: “You think I am Sara’s husband Avraham? Ha! That means you don’t know who I am. Maybe I am married with children but I do not live in Modi’in. I am religious, and I happen to know that Sara’s husband is not. Therefore I cannot be who you think I am!”

Natasha: “What? How can you claim to be religious with your behavior? You admit that you are married? Why are you cheating on your wife?”

Absalom: “Don’t you dare question my religiosity. This is what I was afraid of, that you would question my religious observance.”

Natasha: “Never mind about all that. I have some important questions to ask you about what you told me to look for at Masada. Are the underground areas in Masada related to Hamas’ underground tunnels? Were you trying to get me to warn the authorities about that? Are you on our side? Do you know Saul, Millie, and Tajir?”

Absalom: “I can’t say right now. Message me later today and I will tell you everything.”