The Shield: a novel (4 page)

Am
os went on for a couple more minutes and finally announced: “We will have the military report now. The Chief of General Staff is a bit busy, so Colonel Gilead will do the honors.”

Gilead briefly summarized the events: “Our offer of assistance to the British in Lebanon, which was agreed upon at the last cabinet meeting, was accepted. The intervention against Vichy forces in Syria is going well. We estimate that the French will surrender in a couple of days. They literally don’t know what hit them. The orders to our Air Force were to attack with high altitude weapons or if that was impossible, to make low altitude passes at supersonic speeds.

“We used missiles to shoot down six Luftwaffe fighters. This will prevent reports of strange planes in case the pilots survived. We don’t think any of the pilots survived. The Vichy air force was nowhere to be seen. General Wilson was smart enough to comply with our request to keep the RAF away.  We didn’t want interference or them estimating our abilities, and he didn’t want to lose more planes.”

The P
.M. thanked Gilead for his presentation. “I think that now is the time to discuss the issues left open from this morning’s Cabinet meeting. Please feel free to raise any questions you find of interest.”

In the next hour or so the discussion focused on supply problems. The country needed to be fed and fueled. The reserves of refined fuels were enough for several months, longer with rationing. Natural gas for electricity was cut off and coal was in short supply, only enough for two months. Some of the power stations could be converted fairly quickly to use heavy fuel oil, of which there were more significant stocks. Natural gas supplies could be restored, but that would take some time – the production platforms and pipes were lost in the Event. Food was also available; Israel was self-sufficient in dairy products, eggs, vegetables, some fruits, and almost self-sufficient in grain. Most of the Mediterranean fishing boats were in port during the Event and were still available, though it was thought prudent not to let them sail the open sea in view of possible entanglements with the Royal Navy. The reserves of other foodstuffs would last at least two months. Based on the assumption that they were stuck in this time, the government made several strategic decisions aimed at providing food and energy in the long term
and decided to appoint a committee of three ministers to deal with the problems that would inevitably arise.

Several ministers from the left-leaning coalition party argued for an immediate imposition of rationing on food, fuel and electricity. The Finance Minister argued against these draconian measures.  She explained that in the absence of a real shortage, rationing would create a black market and stockpiling of goods, which in turn would create real shortages. “Rationing is justified only if and when we have a real supply problem, which we are not likely to have if our plans succeed. If we see that such a problem is about to surface, we will take appropriate action.” She smiled her engaging smile and waited for opposing views. None volunteered to argue with the nice lady – she was charming but had no patience for stubborn fools.

People started shuffling their feet and preparing for the meeting to be formally closed.

“
We have one other item of business that cannot wait,” the P.M. said. The room slowly became quiet again. “I have to remind you that today is Friday, June 20, 1941. The day after tomorrow, on Sunday, June 22, at 3:15 in the morning, Germany will attack the Soviet Union.”

“
Do you propose that we prevent this attack?” one of the ministers asked.

“
No. I don’t think we can do that, but there is a consequence of this attack that I would very much like to prevent.” Amos Nir looked at each one of the people around the oval conference table. Some of the ministers were already nodding in agreement, a few looked aghast.  Only one looked like he did not know what Amos was talking about.

The discussion following his explanation of what he had in mind was tumultuous. At one point it be
came so loud that one of the guards outside the room opened the door and looked in. The P.M.’s secretary waved to him that everything was OK. Finally the P.M. stopped the discussion and called for a vote. He had a comfortable majority on his side, but only on the condition that he got cabinet approval for any military steps that would likely become necessary. His next move was to make sure that there would be no trouble from the religious parties’ ministers due to Foreign Ministry and Government activity on Saturday. It was justified by the fact that such activities would save lives and saving lives overrides the Sabbath. But better to ask first and keep the coalition behind him. He got their agreement later in the day.

***

The Foreign Minister waited for the crowd to calm down. The room was full and some of the attending
ambassadors had to sit on improvised benches.

“
Ladies and Gentlemen,” the minister said quietly – this quiet approach always worked. It worked now. The many conversations stopped and everybody was looking at him.

“
I am assuming that everyone here has heard the official announcement. The facts as presented in that announcement are correct.” He paused to let the crowd digest the message and quiet down again. “I am also sure that at least some of you have used your own resources to check the situation. I would like to make several announcements and give you additional information. But first, does anybody here have any doubts that we moved in time and that today is” - he looked at his watch - “approximately 4 pm on June 21, 1941?”

The crowd of foreign
ambassadors was quiet. Some nodded in confirmation but did not speak.

“
I see that the situation is clear. There are some actions to be taken and implications to this condition which, with your permission, I would like to examine more closely.” The minister looked at his notes for the first time. “The first thing that comes to mind is that we should do all in our power to keep events as close as possible to our history. I hope that everyone agrees with that.”

The French
ambassador got up: “Sir, this may be immoral. It is in your power to save many millions of lives. Why not act to do so?”

“
And how do you propose we do that?”

“
Well, your army could attack the German forces concentrated on the Soviet border and destroy them. This would stop the attack before it began and save many lives.”

“
A very noble idea, Mr. Ambassador. Do you propose that we magically transport our army to the German-Soviet border in occupied Poland and combat the Germans there? If this is your proposal, I have to disappoint you – we have no means to perform such a feat.”

“
No, no,” the French Ambassador was not amused. “This not at all what I propose. I was thinking more along the lines of using your air force and, if absolutely necessary, non-conventional weapons.”

“
Mr. Ambassador, I appreciate your good intentions. Let’s examine the practical side though. The German forces are spread out over a front several thousand kilometers long. Even though they number close to three million, in effect they form a very narrow ribbon along the Soviet border. Assuming we had such long range aircraft, we could bomb them with pinpoint accuracy but we could not do enough damage in any significant way within the time we have. In fact, as soon as we attack it is reasonable that Germany will assume this to be a Soviet attack and counterattack immediately. We could, of course, use non-conventional weapons, which I am not saying we have. For the sake of the discussion though, let’s say we do have them. You suggest than that we drop nuclear bombs on the German army in numbers sufficient to destroy them. Am I correct?”

“
Yes, Minister. This is one of the options I urge you to consider,” the French Ambassador said.

“
Well, say we considered and accepted this idea. The result would be a belt of devastation running through the heart of eastern Poland and parts of the Ukraine and southern Europe, with hundreds of thousands dead. The civilian population will not be excluded from this holocaust. It is also likely that some Soviet forces will be affected – after all nuclear weapons are for mass destruction and not for pinpoint accuracy. And what will happen next? Do you seriously expect Stalin to look to the West, see Germany defenseless and not pounce? He may decide to wait for a while, but pounce he will. And with nobody to stop him, the Soviet Union will reach the Pyrenees in no time. You think that France will do better under Stalin than it is doing under Hitler? Or maybe you suggest that we also nuke the Soviets? I don’t think that this is a viable proposal – Too many innocent people will die, and, despite what some of you may think and have actually said in the past, we are not monsters and will never contemplate mass murder. 

“
There are also those little side effects that are unpredictable. Let me address one of them: You all know by now that we are jamming every unauthorized radio transmission from our territory. The jamming is dynamic – it starts as soon as our services detect a carrier wave. The reason for this is that we do not want any information about the future leaked to the world outside. Such a leak could be catastrophic.  Imagine that someone who wants the Axis to win tells them that the Allies have broken the Enigma codes. This may not let
them win the war, but it will cost the allies dearly and will likely prolong the bloodletting.
There are more possibilities - too many to mention. I am sure that you will agree with me that even a short transmission falling into the wrong hands may be catastrophic.  For this reason the Knesset is now in the process of debating a number of emergency laws which, I am sure, will pass. These are the important points that concern you and your nationals now in Israel:

Any contact with the outside world without the explicit permission of the Government will be punishable by 20 years in prison. This law applies to everyone - there will be no diplomatic immunity. It also applies to the press.

1.
  
All radio transmitters have to be turned over to the Ministry of Communications by noon on Monday, June 23. Possession of a transmitter will be punishable by 20 years imprisonment. Embassies and diplomatic mission are NOT excluded.

2.
 
Under the new emergency laws, the police and security forces can detain anyone suspected of subversive activity for 90 days without trial or an arrest warrant. This applies to everyone, including diplomats.

3.
 
Diplomatic credentials are considered invalid until such time as accreditation is renewed – assuming the current governments of your respective countries choose you as their representatives.

4.
 
Diplomats and other citizens of the Axis countries including Germany and Japan will not be considered enemy aliens. Citizens of countries whose life or freedom may be in danger from their respective regimes are welcome to apply for political asylum.

“
Ladies and Gentlemen, I suggest that you take some time to consider what I just said.  You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions at the next meeting.  Or you can always ask for clarifications through the normal channels.” As the assembled ambassadors started filing out of the auditorium, discussing the announcement and the surprising bluntness and assertiveness of the normally mild Israeli Foreign Minister, a guard approached the British ambassador and took him through a side door to the Minister.

***

Lieutenant Shaviv looked at his platoon sergeant. Uri was cleanly shaven and seemed rested. They had nothing to do for the last day and a half. Since The Event there had been no activity along the Gaza border, except a couple of British aircraft trying to get through to Israel north of their outpost.

“
Uri,” Shaviv said, “we have new orders, and you are getting a new platoon commander
.
”

Sergeant Uri Dayan was surprised. Not by any new orders - No
am Shaviv had predicted that - but the announcement of a new platoon commander. He served with Shaviv for almost ten years and expected them to retire from the service together.
 
“Where are you going?” he asked his long-time friend.

“
Not very far. I was promoted to Company Commander. Maybe they will even make me a captain before I am old enough to be put out to pasture.”

Actually, Uri Dayan had expected No
am to be promoted a while ago. He suspected that his platoon commander was still a lieutenant because he never accepted an order unconditionally. Independent thinking was encouraged, but Noam Shaviv was beyond independent – he was incapable of accepting an order uncritically. On the other hand, his command benefited from his stubbornness and even the battalion commander admitted that he was a good officer and often was right to argue about the orders he received.

“
Well, good luck,” Uri said. “Don’t forget us.”

“
Don’t worry, I’ll come to visit. Your coffee is the best. Even battalion can’t match it. Anyway, my replacement is a guy fresh from officer school. He is our age and is also a reservist that decided to become an officer somewhat late in his career. This is going to be his first command. But he’s not inexperienced, having been a sergeant for a while. Treat him well and be sure to educate him.