The Jerusalem Gambit

by Jack Leman

  “Eagle one, you will meet three F-16Cs and one F-16D/J from Ramat David Airbase.”

  They now formed a considerable attack force. He checked his wingman and gave him an all okay sign with his hand.

  He tried to visualize the unfolding mission. They planned to shoot their Paveways at a rising ballistic missile. The window of opportunity to hit the missile was very short. He calculated their chances of success and they appeared slim. The Paveways were not ideal for hitting fast moving targets; they were designed for targets moving on the ground. Shooting at something moving vertically was an unfamiliar experience for the pilots.

  The F-16D/J joining their mission was loaded with ECM, electronic countermeasures jamming the tracking and acquisition radars of the Syrian defense system, allowing the F-16Cs to control the skies. They would protect the F-35s from the Syrian Air Force, allowing them to concentrate on their mission. Gideon and his wingman were at ease with this formation. They had taken part in many missions with the F-16s.

  He waited patiently while the Eagle wing moved to the north, unobserved and king of the skies.

  Suddenly new red blotches appeared on the visor of his helmet. This time the threat was more serious: the Russians had activated the long-range acquisition radars of their S-400 sol-air missile systems based in the north of the country. That was a mission breaker. They were not facing the Syrians, but the more experienced Russians. The Russians had installed the S-400 but did not allow Syrian technicians to handle the systems.

  “North Command, Eagle one, the S-400 radars have been activated. Over.”

  “Yes, Eagle one. Continue the mission, new orders will follow.”

  Gideon knew the F-16D/J might face difficulties with the S-400 radar. First, shooting at Russian personnel even on enemy territory was a political issue, and it had to be avoided to protect the relations between Israel and Russia. Second, they had in the past successfully jammed the radars of the Syrian S-300s, but these new generations of radars had not been properly tested. For all they knew, the F-16s were sitting ducks for the S-400. Gideon and his wingman had once been painted by this new radar, but they had not been detected. He prayed it had not been a technical glitch at the time, but a real inadequacy of their system. As much as he trusted the stealth of his aircraft, a lot had been said about the advanced technology of the new Russian radar, and that was enough to put some doubts in a pilot’s mind. Unless North Command aborted the mission, it looked as if they would test the limits of the aircrafts and the radar today.

  “Eagle wing, North Command. The F-16s are aborting the mission. You will be on your own. Time is short, deliver quickly and get back safely.”

  “Roger that, North Command, Eagles proceed with the mission. Over.”

  Gideon turned his head towards Eagle two flying 30 meters to his right and gave an encouraging smile to his wingman, not really expecting him to see it or acknowledge it. He had his sun deflector down, and his head was just a big dark blob.

  56- Sunday 01:25 pm

  Al-Kisweh

  The shoot-out had ended. He checked the situation below their observation post and he saw that the Hezbollah had lost most of their men, some were wounded but as a group they represented no threat at all. The Syrians had lost a lot of men, and some were tending to the wounds of their friends. He counted eight bodies and eight wounded. Both groups had lost their commanding officers. The remaining fighters were entrenched in their positions, making themselves as small as possible, avoiding even lifting their heads up. They did not pose a threat anymore.

  The Sayeret team could take them out from the second floor of the building; they were easy targets now. They would no doubt wait for reinforcements, if someone had called in any, before moving and taking the risk of being shot.

  He asked Zadok about the situation at the neighboring building where a Syrians squad had taken refuge.

  “I got three of four, so there is still one soldier holed up there, but I doubt he will risk putting his head up.”

  Tal had been awake all night and had relaxed after the shoot-out ended. He was relieved his team had not been discovered, and there was no injury because of the bullets flying around them. The Duvdevan team was also silent, which meant they were also in hiding somewhere to their northwest and had avoided being wounded in the gunfire. With the drop of adrenaline, Tal was falling asleep. He made a sign to Doron that he would take a nap and that he was in charge during his sleep.

  It didn’t last long. He jumped up with the voice of Doron in his ear bud.

  “Movement on the ramp. Six soldiers taking position left and right of the entrance.”

  He was wide awake instantly. Instead of his binoculars, he used the laser target designator to look at the basement.

  He tapped on his smartphone “HQ, six soldiers out on defensive positions on the ramp of the basement.” He knew Duvdevan would also hear his message and take precautions.

  Tal continued to scan the Syrian soldiers who were watching the basement. There was no reaction from their side. Either they had not seen the deployment, or they were ignoring it. He focused on the basement team and saw the lookouts looking backwards towards the entrance. Something was happening in the basement. He heard before he saw the truck appear and take the same position as they had taken last night. Two people jumped out of the truck and busied themselves on the side of the truck while stabilizer arms extended to compensate for the slope of the ramp.

  He checked the surrounding soldiers; still no reaction.

  “HQ, the truck is out. They are rigging it to the electrical grid.”

  “Maglan one, contact Eagle One on 215.5 and follow his instructions. Get the LLDR ready.”

  Tal grinned as he realized that there was a friendly aircraft somewhere above and that they needed his guidance to destroy the missile. He looked at Doron and Zadok, who were grinning along.

  “HQ, Eagle One, 215.5, out.” confirmed Tal to his headquarters and switched his radio to the new radio frequency he had just been given. Before he contacted the aircraft, he ordered his team to pack and get ready to retreat in a hurry.

  “Eagle One, this is Maglan one. Over.”

  “Maglan One, I am seven minutes out. I have you on my situation radar. Confirm when LLDR is ready, and target acquired. Follow the missile with the laser for twenty seconds after its launching. I am aiming to hit it in mid-flight before it gets too high. Over.”

  “Eagle One, LLDR trained, and target acquired. I will advise when the launching starts. Over.”

  Tal suddenly realized he had a problem. His LLDR was designed to acquire targets moving horizontally and at some distance away. From where he lay, he could follow a tank or a vehicle advancing in a field, for example. But this time the orders were to follow a target moving vertically. He couldn’t follow it while he lay on the floor. He had to get up and train the laser beam on the rising missile. That would put him in plain view of the soldiers below and make him an easy target. The other problem, even if he was standing, was that his sight line was limited by the ceiling and if the missile passed overhead, he would lose the target. It would all depend on the direction the missile would fly.

  “Zadok, Doron, get to my side of the building. You will cover me while I get up to keep the LLDR locked on the missile. I want you to focus on the soldiers below and not to look at the rising missile. If you see any threat to us, don’t hesitate and shoot. Clear?”

  He took his camouflage cover out and prepared to get up as soon as they launched the missile.

  57-Sunday 1:25 pm

  Knesset

  Jerusalem

  Nashwa Shamoon was furious. They had been waiting in the security queue for half an hour. At this pace, she would miss the ceremony. Her mother had been very excited and had talked during the entire trip from Tayibe. She had barely acknowledged her ramblings. Her father had not been keen to accompany her to the Knesset. He did not like Israelis and he could hardly imagine himself in the building which was the center of the Israel
i sovereignty, surrounded by all these politicians who had played with Arab’s lives within Israel. He had tried to invent some excuses to avoid being present, but after a certain point he did not dare contradict his wife and had reluctantly accepted to come to the ceremony.

  The people in the car in front of them were going through the metal detector while a dog sniffed the inside of their car. A soldier checked the underside of the car with a camera for hidden bombs. The occupants of the car came back from the metal detector and reentered their car. Nashwa kept on looking at the watch on the dashboard. The minutes were ticking. She felt like honking in protest. Now, the driver of the front car was scolding the officer, who was answering politely and patiently. The car moved in the direction the officer showed to them.

  Finally, it was her turn. She pulled the car to the side of the officer and got out. She showed the document confirming she was an elected member of the Knesset and said that if it went at this pace, she would miss the ceremony. She saw the officer couldn’t care less. She eyed the soldier holding the dog, waiting for all the occupants to get out of the car.

  Her mother exclaimed angrily to her husband,

  “Come on, get out quickly, we don’t have the whole day!”

  Nashwa’s father grumpily got out of the car and moved toward the metal detector. If she had the time, Nashwa would have protested loudly for the security procedure they were obliging her to go through. She felt being an elected member gave her some rights over normal visitors, but she knew she did not have the time to go through a discussion with this officer. She saw the dog happily jump on the back seat of the Mercedes and sniff nervously at the leather upholstery. The dog had put her dirty paws on the seat! Nashwa was getting angrier by the minute. They finally got back into the car and she put the gear to start towards the basement parking lot, where she had a place reserved for her. The officer put up his hand and said:

  “Stop!, Sorry, you cannot park in the basement. Your car is not on the list.”

  Nashwa wanted to scream. She looked at the clock on the dashboard and blushed when she realized she was minutes away from the ceremony. She blamed herself for not having gone out of her home an hour earlier.

  “So, what do you want me to do? Leave the car here and go by foot or what!”

  “I am sorry, this car cannot go in the basement parking. Go left from here and once you get to the outdoor parking lot at the other side of the courtyard, find yourself a place to park.”

  Nashwa revved the car and darted for the outdoor parking lot. As she got there, she realized that all the places were taken and the only places available were at the further side of the lot. She could cry from frustration.

  “Nashwa, stop by the little bridge there and go with your mother. I will find a place to park and join you a little later.” Said her father. That was a bright idea, and Nashwa did not hesitate. She left her father in the car and, with her mother in tow, she rushed to the entrance of the building. She would make it after all, she thought.

  Salim, Nashwa’s father, felt relieved after the two women left the car. His daughter had been stressed all along the road and had not even realized that more than once her reckless driving could have killed them. He touched the precious wood of the dashboard. He had not been in a large Mercedes before and was in awe of the luxury. He now even had the chance to drive one. He drove slowly in the parking lot and touched the buttons and knobs of the car. He was like a little boy playing with a toy. He made a few tours of the parking lot to get a feeling of driving the car. He then discovered the music system. A soft music of a quality he had never heard before filled the car. He pulled the car to the opposite side of the connection bridge, killed the engine and played with the audio system.

  Unbeknown to Salim, every time he turned off the engine, a low frequency radio beacon started emitting a signal from beneath the back seat of the big car.

  58- Sunday 1:30 pm

  Israel Air Intelligence Group (IAIG) HQ,

  Tel Aviv

  Naama looked around her. The consternation of the rockets flying towards Tel Aviv subsided and left in its place a quiet buzz of people concentrating on their computers. No bombs had fallen on Tel Aviv, but the danger had been real. After discreetly having reassured their families, everybody was back at work. All the working stations were now manned, the replacement teams were waiting in the room, lined by the walls, in case their help was needed. Everyone realized they had lived out something serious, but that the danger had not passed totally. Something else was brewing.

  Naama looked at her screen and realized the F-35s were already over Syrian soil and approaching Al-Kisweh. The image from the UAV showed the Seles truck stationed at the entrance of the basement, which was probably getting ready to launch. She could see the red canopy; the missile was not visible yet. She checked the Maglan and Duvdevan teams on her screen. Circles marked the locations of the boys; they were holding their positions. The number of triangles on the screen had diminished, a visible result of the casualties of the battle provoked by the Maglan team. The infrared sensors showed cooling bodies on the ground; no time to count them now. About a dozen new triangles were now on the ramp, sentries protecting the truck and its crew. Three triangles moved around the truck, presumably preparing it for the launch sequence.

  She zoomed-out the image so that now it covered the whole industrial zone. She saw three trucks and two armored vehicles at the northern entrance of the industrial zone. Reinforcements had arrived. Soldiers were assembling in groups to advance towards the basement south of the I.Z.

  Too late, Naama thought. They will not make it in time for the launching.

  Naama turned to her commanding officer, but he had seen the situation on the screen himself and was already on the phone to his superior.

  59-Sunday 1:40 pm

  Mossad HQ

  Tel Aviv

  Oded waited for Director Tamir to pick up his phone. The phone kept on ringing. Come on man, hurry…

  “Yes…”

  “Tamir, it’s Oded. Two things. The first is that the truck is out of the basement, most probably in pre-launch countdown. Second, we just received a call from IAIG. They have located reinforcements at the northern entrance of Al-Kisweh. Two platoons of soldiers and two armored vehicles are walking towards the basement.”

  Tamir winced. There were always glitches, but these were deadly. The grim news had started to arrive. It was up to him now to make sure these developed into pleasant news.

  “Instruct the Duvdevan team to pack up and get out as quickly as possible from the south exit of the I.Z. Sayeret Maglan has to be ready to move out, but first, they must designate the target to the aircraft. Right after that, I want them to move to their extraction zone without delay.”

  “Ok, I am transmitting the instructions.”

  “Patch me to the communications between the aircraft and the Maglan team. I want to hear what’s going on.”

  “Okay boss…”

  60-Sunday 1:45 pm

  Al-Kisweh

  After Karim rigged the electric cable and checked that the systems booted successfully, Ghassan and Fuad started the procedure of entering the target coordinates.

  Fuad lifted two panels on the dashboard and revealed two computer screens and two mini keyboards; one computer to monitor the firing sequence and the other the navigation system.

  Ghassan typed his password on the first computer and nodded to Fuad. A window appeared on the second computer and Fuad typed his own. A new window appeared on the first one, and Fuad entered the coordinates. Cramped behind the front seats of the truck’s cabin, Abu Amr wanted to make sure they entered the right coordinates. He read the coordinates on the screen and checked one last time with his note and confirmed.

  “OK, it’s correct. Go ahead.”

  Ghassan used the on-screen calculator to calculate the day’s password, typed it, and pressed enter.

  The system was set. The coordinates had been inserted in the missile’s memory and onc
e in the air it would fly and maneuver on its own, according to GPS data that it received from the satellites above to reach the designated target.

  The secondary guiding system of the missile was activated too; a sensor in the missile was monitoring a certain radio frequency and as soon as it detected the coded signal from a transponder it would take over the guidance of the missile and would home in on the signal. If there was no signal, the missile would fly to the coordinates loaded before the launching.

  Ghassan didn’t know the exact location of the target coordinates, but he could see that it was somewhere to their south; the only logical target was Israel. He didn’t know the exact purpose of launching the missile to Israel, but he could see that it would complicate all the relations and power balances in the region; not to mention Israel’s retaliation. God knows where it would hit and how many innocent people would die because some fools fired a missile into Israel!

  The rail of the missile raised slowly to its firing position of 45 degrees; once risen and locked, Fuad initialized the catapult rocket that gave momentum to launch the missile. He checked that the temperature inside the burning chamber of the missile was increasing as expected. The code lines scrolled on the little screen on the dashboard and everything was in the green. If all the processes went well, they would launch the missile in a few minutes.

  Ghassan realized that the UAVs or satellites flying above would immediately detect the exhaust fumes, giving the precise location of the launching site, if it was not already done. He supposed the Israelis would try to destroy the truck in case it carried a second missile.

  He had to stay in the truck and take the risk of being obliterated. Theoretically, until the missile reached its target, he could abort the mission by inserting the auto-destruct code in the navigation computer and hope that the message reaches the missile in time. Last night when he evaluated his chances of getting out alive from Al-Kisweh, he reached the optimistic conclusion that they were very slim, and the realistic conclusion was that they were nonexistent. The operation now involved the Syrians, some armed groups outside the basement, and most important, it involved the Israelis. The realization that he would not see his family again hit him, and his eyes watered.