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By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

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BY WAY OF DECEPTION 181In that fall <strong>of</strong> 1972, Meir was looking for a way to turn Israeliminds from the horrors <strong>of</strong> international terrorism and thecountry's growing isolation since the Six Day War. Politically, atleast, she needed a diversion. There had been a standing requestfrom Israel for an audience with Pope Paul VI in Rome. And so inNovember, after receiving a message from the Vatican agreeing tothe request, Meir asked her <strong>of</strong>ficials to make the arrangements.However, she told them, "I don't want to go to Canossa," acommon saying in Israel that refers to the castle in Italy whereEmperor Henry IV <strong>of</strong> the Holy Roman Empire humiliated himselfby going as a simple penitent before Pope Gregory VII in 1077.Because he was deliberately kept waiting outside for three daysbefore being granted absolution, the visit has come to symbolizean act <strong>of</strong> submission.It was decided that Meir would visit Paris to attend an un<strong>of</strong>ficialinternational socialist conference on January 13-14 — aconference that French President Georges Pompidou stronglycriticized — then drop by the Vatican on January 15 for one day,followed by two days with Ivory Coast President Felix Houphouet-Boigny before returning home to Israel.Within a week <strong>of</strong> her request, the papal audience was formalized,although it was not announced to the public.Because about three percent <strong>of</strong> Israel's population, or about100,000 people, are Christian Arabs, the PLO is well connectedinside the Vatican, with sources privy to internal discussions. Thatwas how Abu Yusuf quickly got the news <strong>of</strong> Meir's plan to visit thepope. He immediately sent a message to All Hassan Salameh inEast Germany, telling him: "Let's get the one who is spilling ourblood all over Europe." (That message, and much <strong>of</strong> the materialappearing in this chapter, was unknown to the Israelis until afterthey seized a mountain <strong>of</strong> PLO documents in the 1982 Lebanonwar.)Just how Meir would be killed, and precisely when, was left to theRed Prince, but the decision had been made to strike, and he wasdetermined to bring it <strong>of</strong>f. Quite apart

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