By Way of Deception

10CarlosIN FEBRUARY 21, 1973, the Israelis sent two Phantom jets outagainst an unarmed Libyan Arab Airlines Boeing 727 that hadbeen bound for Cairo but strayed off course. They shot it down,killing 105 of the 111 people on board. That came just 12 hoursafter Israeli commandos had staged a daring raid in Beirut,blowing up various PLO installations, capturing a considerableamount of documentation, and killing several PLO leaders,including Black September chief Abu Yusuf and his wife.The destruction of the civilian plane was a tragic mistake. At thetime, Israel had received threats that an airplane filled with bombswould be flown to Tel Aviv. The ill-fated Boeing was headed directlyover one of the largest military bases in the Sinai, and when thechief of the air force could not be found, the decision to shoot wasmade by a captain.It would be another six years before the Mossad finally caught upwith the Red Prince, but Golda Meir's single- minded personalvendetta against Black September drastically changed the role ofthe Institute. The PLO became the most important part of Mossadwork — not a good situation, because less attention was paid toother enemies, such as Egypt and Syria, who were screaming war— and, in fact, preparing for war; Anwar Sadat had committees allover Egypt actually called "war committees." But the Mossad was197