The meeting was quite short and a consensus was reached within minutes: all Israelis were now fair game for kidnapping (they used the more politically correct term "taking hostages"). However, Iran must retain plausible deniability for these actions so there should be no evidence linking Iran directly to the kidnappings. After all, the Senior Assistant said, Iran had signed the nuclear deal and was now a respectable member of the international community, so the idea was that everybody would "know" that Iran was responsible but there would be no substantiation to any such accusations. The general said that he would use a worldwide network of Islamic supporters and sympathizers, but not official Iranian agents, to carry out these operations in places that were favored by Israeli tourists. Especially attractive were countries that were ruled by Muslims, even if they were not Shiites like Turkey or Azerbaijan, or countries that had a significant Muslim minority like India or Thailand, and even Cyprus that bordered on the Turkish controlled part of the island. Another area where Israeli vacationers were particularly vulnerable was the Egyptian Sinai peninsula with its sandy beaches, coral reefs and free-for-all atmosphere. The general promised to issue a directive to his collaborators in those countries and use the same method that worked for "bounty hunters" in the Wild West — prize money and rewards for whoever would deliver live Israelis to the hands of the IRG.
Captain Zohar Shemesh, addressed by everyone by his nickname Zorik, stepped into his Tel-Aviv apartment and shouted to his girlfriend "Honey, I am home. Come and see me" and walked to the bathroom. Inbal stuck her head through the bathroom door and watched him remove the flight suit overall from his sweaty body and unceremoniously toss it into the laundry basket. He announced "This is the end of my career as a fighter jet pilot, at least for now". Inbal smiled broadly and applauded. At the age of thirty he had completed a 12 year stretch that included a bachelor's degree in computer science from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and pilot certification from the Israeli Air Force Academy. He had logged thousands of hours in a variety of the most advanced jet fighter planes, starting with the aged F-4 Phantom that was removed from the Israeli Air Force in the early 2000s, through the latest models of the F-16 and F-15. He had been on dozens of missions against terrorist organizations ranging from Gaza that was just a few kilometers from his base to targets that were thousands of kilometers away. He was summoned to an interview by the Commander of the Air Force (CAF) and invited to stay in the service with very tempting offers. These included promotion to the rank of a major, position as an executive officer in an elite fighter squadron and a scholarship to advanced degree studies in science, engineering or business at a school of his choice. Zorik deliberated whether to accept the offer but told the CAF that he needed a time-out of six months to clear his mind and reach a decision. He explained that he would have to consult with his girlfriend, Inbal, as they had plans to get married and start a family. The Commander said that he fully understood and suggested that he take a paid leave for six-months. If he decided to leave the Air Force he would have to return the payment but if he rejoined it would a bonus for signing on.
Inbal watched him toss the flight suit and before he could step into the shower hugged him and said that for the next six months she didn't want to see him in anything except jeans and a tee-shirt, or a bathing suit. Zorik smiled and invited her to join him in the shower but she stepped back quickly and said that they would have enough time for that later and she had to start packing for their trip to the beaches of Thailand and the mountains of India and Nepal.
The young couple went on a short round of farewell dinners with Zorik's parents and older brother and with Inbal's parents and younger sister. Zorik's father was a professor of physics at Tel-Aviv University and his mother was a research bio-chemist employed by a leading manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals. His brother, Erez was the founder of a high-tech company that had developed a cell phone application that was bought out by one of the major companies for an undisclosed sum that was estimated in the high 8-figures range. Inbal was a talented mechanical engineer by training with the soul of an innovator and at the tender age of 27 was already the co-owner of four registered patents and had declined several offers to sell them to large commercial bodies. Both her parents were senior partners in one of the largest law firms in Tel-Aviv that specialized mainly in trading of commodity futures and in real-estate deals. Her mother, Anna, was in her late forties and was the only daughter of the Israeli Prime Minister from his first marriage. She tried to keep in touch with her father, the PM, but at the insistence of his third wife was never invited to the official residence in Jerusalem. Despite the sour face his current wife made whenever he mentioned Anna, the PM met his eldest daughter about twice a year, always in unofficial settings, and closely followed the career of his two talented granddaughters. He always attributed Inbal's successful career to his genetic heritage but never boasted in public about that. In fact, there was no public record that Inbal Sabatani was the PM's granddaughter although the security authorities were aware of it. Inbal's younger sister, Daphne was 24 years old, and was an officer in Mossad but no one in the family knew what she actually did there, except that she spent a lot of her time outside Israel.
The farewell was very civilized and restrained as all involved refrained from public display of emotions but the young couple had to promise to remain in touch by telephone, e-mail or Skype. Inbal and Zorik said they would announce their intention to get officially married after their long vacation, much to the delight of their families.
The next day Inbal and Zorik boarded a flight to Bangkok, spent a night in the bustling city trying to ignore the noise, humidity, heat and congestion. After a sleepless night they continued to the resort of Phuket on one of the seven daily flights with Bangkok Air. They had decided beforehand that it would be their premarital honeymoon and they would spend one week in a luxurious hotel without caring about expenses — they called this the big splurge. The hotel on the Shore of Katathani was very highly rated by the Tripadvisor website so they chose it for the first part of the vacation. They were favorably surprised by the cost that was much lower than they had estimated and by the facilities that exceeded their wildest dreams. For a few moments they considered extending their honeymoon but then the reality set in that their money wouldn't last anything near six months at that rate. So after that week they joined the crowds of young people from all over the world that tried to make their dollars or Euros go a long way and look for the cheap places as they had planned on taking the full six months of vacation.
They moved to a beach resort that was a haven for youngsters who were looking for cheap alcohol, plentiful drugs and a ridiculously low cost of living. Most of the people on that beach were in their late teens or early twenties and Zorik and Inbal felt they were of an older generation. They were upset by the behavior of some of the young men, mostly their own compatriots who were willing to bargain with the local shop owners for an hour in order to save a couple of dollars. They quickly realized that for the local merchant these two dollars meant like twenty or even two hundred dollars for the tourists. Zorik felt he could put up with this behavior because bargaining was common in the Middle East but he detested the manner in which these youngsters conducted themselves when they were drunk. They became abusive, aggressive and violent under the influence of alcohol and reports of rape and vandalism were common occurrences. When those youngsters were on a "chemical trip" some became zombies and didn't respond to any outside stimulation while others behaved as if they had been transformed from humans to animals. Zorik could ignore the zombies and tranquil animals but couldn't stand the young men who thought they were voracious felines and physically attacked anyone close to them. The young girls were no better — some behaved like nymphomaniacs and tried to have sex with everything that breathed and even with inanimate objects, others just folded themselves into a fetal position, hugged themselves tightly and cried quietly.