other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

"Then forget it," I said. "If we can't tell the full story, then wewon't tell it at all. We could, however, separate the two parts and tellabout the training of the Iranian pilots in Germany."Ephraim did acknowledge tha: there was more to the story. Heexplained that, after Barschel's defeat in the election (a direct result ofthe campaign that Ran had organized), he contacted his BND connectionand threatened to expose all their wrongdoing if they didn't takeaction to clear his name. The BND upper hierarchy, which was gettinginformation from the local intelligence-the same information thatwas fed to the locals by the Mossad-thought that Barschel was dirtyand called on the Mossad for help.The BND had to use the Mossad to handle this situation becauseBarschel's threat against the BND would have affected the mid-levelthat was keeping in contact with the Mossad against the direct ordersof their superiors, so they couldn't go for help to their own people.The BND contact told the Mossad liaison that some hearings weregoing to take place in several days, and if Barschel was not satisfiedbefore the hearings, he'd use them to spill the beans. The timetablewas too short for the Mossad to wind down the operation in the twoairfields and get all the Israeli crews and equipment out of there intime. Barschel had to be stopped before he could testify.The BND gave the Mossad liaison Barschel's location (he was onvacation in the Canary Islands) and the phone number at which hecould be reached. He was staying in a house loaned to him by a friend.Ran called Barschel on the island. The first call went unanswered,and Ran assumed that Barschel must be out. He called back one hourlater and was told that Barschel was not available at the moment. Onhis third try, Ran made contact with Barschel and told the man that hehad information that could help clear his name, and he introducedhimself as Robert Oleff.He insisted that Barschel come to Geneva. He, Oleff, would havehim picked up at the airport. Barschel wanted more informationbefore he would commit himself, and so Ran said that some interestedIranians might be involved in the deal. This led Barschel to realize thematter was serious and that the man he was talking to was wellinformed. He agreed, and the details of the trip were discussed.The Kidon team was already waiting in Geneva, dispatcheddirectly from Brussels. After examining the field files regardingGeneva, they'd decided that the Hotel Beau-Rivage would be their bestbet for the activity they had in mind. Two couples took rooms at thehotel, one on the fourth floor close to an exit to the roof. The secondcouple came in the same day Barschel did and took a room on theIthird floor, adjacent to the room Ran had reserved for Barschel.The rest of the team scouted the area and located themselves in thevicinity, ready to play out their separate roles as they were calledupon. Ran met Barschel in his room on the afternoon of October 10.After ordering a bottle of wine to go with the cheese he'd broughtwith him, he made a gentle pitch to Barschel in which he tried to convincehim to take the fall. Ran would guarantee him a very lucrativereturn for that. Ran tried to tell Barschel that, after all, what he wasalleged to have done was not such a big deal outside the realm of politics,and so he'd be far better off letting it go and taking the money.Ran surely used the regular phrase the Mossad so likes to use, thatmoney was no object.Barschel was agitated. He insisted that Ran present him with theevidence that would clear his name or get lost. He wasn't interested inprofiting from this affair, but he definitely was going to get even withwhoever had framed him.At that point, Ran realized that there was no way to sway theman. The operation had to move into the next phase, which was terminationwith extreme ~reiudice. Barschel was a threat to the safety ofthe Mossad personnel in the field. Thus, there was no need forapproval from outside the Mossad for the elimination, as is the casewith a political assassination, for which the prime minister must givewritten approval. Ran, however, wanted to get clearance from thehead of the Mossad, who was kept closely informed and had come toGeneva that same morning. He was staying at the Des Bergues Hotel,just down the road from where Barschel was being handled. He wasregistered under the name of P. Marshon.By the time the wine arrived in Barschel's room, it had alreadybeen spiked by a Kidon member. Some of the other team memberswere bringing bags of ice to their rooms in preparation for the finalact. Ran told Barschel that he was only testing his resolve and that herealized he was dealing with an honest man, and therefore he wouldhelp him. Barschel was still aggravated and refused to deal with Ranunless he presented, right then and there, some proof that he in facthad a way to clear his name.Ran made a call to the Mossad liaison, who was waiting in a safehouse. He asked the liaison to contact his man in the BND and havehim call Barschel in his room and tell him that things were going towork out just fine. The liaison, who was expecting this call and hadpreviously talked with Ran regarding this option, had already calledthe BND man in advance and had him on standby, having told himthat something important was going to take place.