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By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

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BY WAY OF DECEPTION 293they could get. Hayem Eliaze, who headed the division thatspecialized in clandestine operations to rescue Jews from behindenemy lines, was put directly in charge <strong>of</strong> this undercover Mosesproject, with orders to produce an operational plan as quickly aspossibleWithin three days, Eliaze gathered his team for a lengthybrainstorming session in their <strong>of</strong>fices outside the main Mossadheadquarters building, on Ibn Gevirol Avenue, just one floor abovethe South African embassy in Tel Aviv.With detailed relief maps on the walls, and the information they'dgathered about Sudan in front <strong>of</strong> them, each man took turnsdelivering what he saw as the situation and how best to approachit. For the most part, the Falashas were located in camps in theKassala and Alatarch areas west <strong>of</strong> Khartoum, toward theEthiopian borders. The Sudanese rebels in the south, who'd beenfighting the central government for years, could not be counted onfor assistance <strong>of</strong> any kind.During one session, one <strong>of</strong> the men studying the map <strong>of</strong> the areasaid it reminded him <strong>of</strong> an incident near Magna, on the northwesttip <strong>of</strong> the Red Sea, when an Israeli missile boat on its way backthrough the Suez Canal had developed technical problems with itsradar when the gyrocompass got stuck, sending the boataccidentally <strong>of</strong>f course. It had plowed into a Saudi Arabian beachin the dead <strong>of</strong> night, nearly setting <strong>of</strong>f an international incident.Miraculously, the missile boat, cruising along at a healthy 30knots, had somehow found a hole in the coral reefs before endingup on the beach. Within hours, responding to radio reports fromthe boat, Israeli navy commandos were sent in to take over. Alldocuments were removed, the ship's crew was taken aboardanother missile boat, the commandos set up a beachhead todefend their position if necessary, and as the sun rose, there wasthe bizarre spectacle <strong>of</strong> an Israeli missile boat, guarded bycommandos, sitting smack on Saudi Arabian sand.Since the two countries weren't actually speaking, Israeli <strong>of</strong>ficialsrequested that the Americans tell the Saudis that it wasn't aninvasion but only a mishap, also warning them

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