Like most members of the Security Cabinet, Adar was a
retired military general. His background was military
intelligence. He had spent several years with responsibility
for the West Bank where he gained extensive experience
in dealing with the Palestinians. More than most Israelis,
he understood their politics and methods. Critics faulted
him for a misplaced humanitarianism, claiming that he
had become too close to their Palestinian adversaries.
During the intifada, Adar was quoted as saying, “If
we stay out of their neighborhoods, they would not be
able to throw their stones at us.”
Although his analysis suggested an awareness of the
Palestinian dilemma, in cases where Israel’s safety
and security were at stake—and safety and security
was his job—Adar believed that ruthlessness was
the most effective deterrent. He re-adopted the ‘iron
fist’ policy of Yitzhak Rabin, who as defense minister
during the first intifida or the ‘war of the stones,’
gave orders to break the bones of the hands, arms or
legs of young Palestinian men caught throwing stones
at the tanks and soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces.
During a second term as prime minister, Rabin was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his efforts in the
Oslo Accords, which created the Palestinian Authority
and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza
Strip and West Bank. Yigal Amir, an Orthodox Jewish
extremist who opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords,
assassinated Rabin in 1995.
“We can’t be everywhere,” Adar responded.
“We simply cannot protect everyone. The hotel should
have had better security. They know they are vulnerable
to an attack.”
“Who’s the head of the hotel security?”
Shamron demanded. Most everybody in the security business
in Israel knows one another, since at one time or another
they were all part of the government military security
apparatus.
“Mike Lehman,” Adar responded.
“Where is he?” Shamron asked. “Get him
over here!”
“We can’t,” Adar said. “He’s
dead. He was killed in the explosion.”
The prime minister took a deep breath. “He was
my major in the army years ago,” he said. “I’ve
known him since he was 19 years old…” Shamron’s
thinning hair suddenly looked grayer than usual.
“We’ll have some answers very soon,”
Adar said to the prime minister, knowing they had to
get to the business at hand. “The police and our
guys at Shin Bet will be reviewing everything carefully.
It’s too soon to know what happened. We don’t
have enough information.”
“One thing we can be sure of,” said Helfein.
“They are targeting our tourist industry. They
know we depend on the revenue, and they’re hitting
it. Christian tourists comprise about 85 percent of
all tourist revenue to Israel. We need it to sustain
our economy.”
“We’re also painfully aware that in the United
States, our principal benefactor nation, all but the
very doctrinaire evangelical Christians are capable
of turning against Israel or at the least, forgetting
about us,“ Foreign Minister Epstein added. “The
American public is growing weary of the violence in
Israel. In our first 50 years we received $85 billion
in grants and loans from the U.S. and another $50 billion
in interest they’re assuming. I was told last week
that we are costing each American taxpayer over $25,000.
We can’t count on this forever. Uncritical support
for Israel is slipping.”
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