The recent Hamas’ barrage of rockets attacking Israel from Gaza has ignited a conflict reminiscent of the July/August war that occurred in 2014. That’s actually how that seven-week war started. The rocket attacks ignited a massive Israel Defense Forces (IDF) response resulting in collateral and more deaths.
Seven years have passed with sporadic hostile incidents, but nothing close to the recent magnitude of 500 rockets suddenly bursting in civilian neighborhoods in Israel. The Iron Dome missile defense system shot down 90% of the incoming, but the damage was done. That act of war will set off another round of retributions.
The Israelis take the Torah’s biblical teaching of Lex Talionis (an eye for an eye) seriously. And they don’t do long wars. Forever wars are not in their lexicon and restraint is not their long suit. IDF will target Hamas and attempt to spare Palestinian civilian collateral damage in the Gaza strip.
A May 12th, 2021 article in the Wall Street Journal speculated whether the attack would lead to a “third Intifada.” That struck me as ironic. That consideration echoed the opening chapter conversations in my novel, ZACHOR, published last year.
On page one of my historical narrative, my Mossad protagonist is lunching with my CIA protagonist at a famous Jerusalem restaurant packed with Israelis when they notice two Palestinian teenagers programming an IED. They prevent the terrorist IED attack in a dramatic takedown that leads to ramifications as the CIA field officer is in the country undercover. This incident will set off reprisals.
The CIA field officer questions the intended terror incident – “We’re dealing with Hamas then? A terrorist plot?”
The Mossad operative replies… “More complicated than that. This is not an isolated case, it’s an alarming trend. I think we are dealing with an emerging Intifada; the attacks are coming in waves of violence. Trust me, I live here. This shit happens.”
Written a year ago, is this comment a coincidence or prescience?
ZACHOR depicts the background of the ongoing tensions and conflicts in a historic context. The novel explores the root causes of the ongoing strife which requires knowledge of the history of Palestine and Israel in the Levant. The novel lends a better understanding of the muddled history of the Middle East and examines the role of Hamas, an Iranian proxy terror group, in stirring the pot of dissent. The discord seems endless as they deny Israel’s right to exist. Conflict resolution is elusive. The novel recounts several key events pivotal in the fractured relationships of Israel and Palestine within the context of a political thriller.
Israeli spy craft turns out to be the determinant factor in the episodes presented. Israel’s Unit 8200 intel team of cyber ninjas are figuratively NSA analysts on steroids. The reader will learn a lot about modern electronic warfare and the vulnerabilities of societies dependent on gadgets that can be exploited by clever hackers. Set against contemporary events, the reader might recognize some of the stories giving it a real-life feel despite being written as fiction.
ZACHOR is composed in the political thriller/ mystery genre with historical narratives. The goal is to provide entertainment, suspense, and to convey a contextual knowledge of why this conflict seems never ending.
Zachor can be purchased on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback formats.
[…] To understand more of this complex history, you are invited to read a synopsis of Zachor. […]