Exodus - Leon Uris [304]
“Why don’t you ask for gold?”
“Look, there are two border villages guarding the approaches to Fort Esther. I just can’t get at the place without some long-range pieces.”
“All right, I’ll send them up to you.” Avidan stood up abruptly and began pacing the room. Behind him was a large map of the fighting zones. Ari had felt strangely all along about Avidan calling him to Tel Aviv. He had felt there was more to it than the planning of a new operation and he knew that Avidan was leading up to it now.
“Ari,” the bald-headed block of a man said slowly, “you were ordered to capture Abu Yesha two weeks ago.”
“So that’s why you called me down here.”
“I thought it would be best if you and I talked it over before it gets kicked around like a football in general staff.”
“I sent you a report that I didn’t feel Abu Yesha was a threat to us.”
“We think differently.”
“As area commander, I believe I’m in the best position to judge.”
“Come off it. Abu Yesha is a base for Mohammed Kassi. It’s an entry point for the irregulars and it blocks the road to Gan Dafna.”
Ari stiffened and looked away.
“You and I have known each other too long for equivocation.”
Ari was silent for a moment. “I’ve known the people in Abu Yesha since I was old enough to walk and talk,” he said. “We’ve celebrated weddings together. We’ve gone to funerals together. We built their houses and they gave us land to make Gan Dafna.”
“I know all that, Ari. Dozens of our settlements are faced with the same thing. We happen to be fighting for our lives. We didn’t invite the Arab armies to invade us.”
“But I know those people,” Ari cried; “they aren’t enemies. They’re just plain decent farmers who want nothing more in life than to be left alone.”
“Ari!” Avidan said sharply. “We have Arab villages who have shown the courage to resist Kawukji and the Arab armies. The people in Abu Yesha made their own decision. It is wishful thinking for you to say it is not hostile. It has to go ...”
“Go to hell,” Ari said and got up to leave.
“Don’t go,” Avidan said quietly. “Please don’t go.” The big farmer now actually did appear tired. His shoulders sagged. “We’ve begged the Palestine Arabs a thousand times to stay out of this fight. No one wants to drive them from their homes. Those villages that have shown loyalty have been left alone. But the others have left us no choice. They are used as arsenals and training camps and as bases to attack our convoys and starve our settlements. A hundred thousand civilians are starving in Jerusalem now because of them. We talked about this thing for weeks. We have no choice but to kill or be killed.”
Ari walked to the window and lit a cigarette. He stared moodily out of the window. Avidan was right and he knew it. The Jewish settlements had not been given the same choice the Arab had been given. With the Jews it was stand and die ... fight to the last bullet and be massacred.
“I could easily put another man up in your command to take Abu Yesha. I don’t want to do it that way. If you feel morally incapable of doing this then I give you the choice of asking for a transfer from your area.”
“To what? Another Abu Yesha by another name?”
“Before you give an answer ... I have known you since you were a baby. You have been a fighter since you were fifteen years old. We haven’t enough men of your caliber. In all those years I’ve never known you to disobey an order.”
Ari turned from the window. His face was lined with worry, sadness, and resignation. He sagged into the chair. “I will do what has to be done,” he whispered.
“Get together with operations,” Avidan said softly.
Ari shook his head and walked to the door.
“By the way, you are Colonel Ben Canaan, now.”
Ari gave a short sarcastic laugh.
“I am sorry, believe me, I’m sorry,” Avidan said.
Colonel Ari Ben Canaan, his executive officer and his adjutant, Majors Ben Ami and Joab Yarkoni, mapped out Operation Purim for the capture of Fort Esther and the removal of Abu Yesha as an Arab base. It would be the final securing of the Huleh Valley.
The artillery that Avidan had promised