“But because everyone else is on alert along the borders.” The captain looked at them for a moment, letting the implication set in. “So wipe the milk from your lips and march like real soldiers. And don’t expect lots of adoring crowds. The Voice of Israel told listeners to stay home and enjoy the live broadcast of the parade, followed by the National Bible Bee.” He grinned. “Let’s load up!”
It took another hour to get all the gear on the truck. They left the camp as the heat of the desert began to rise. Sanani led the company in singing Israeli folk songs, which he modified to his own lyrics, mostly involving female body parts that rhymed with the names of Arab leaders.
T he heartbreaking confrontation with Temimah Gerster had left Tanya shaken up. She wanted to call an ambulance, but Abraham disappeared into the night, carrying his wife in his arms. He must have feared a public scandal.
As the days passed, the intensity of UN communications rose steadily. Her work consumed every waking moment.
One morning, soon after Tanya finished her first cup of coffee, she picked up a radio conversation between UN General Odd Bull and one of his officers-an Indian by his accented English. Bull instructed the officer to alert the UN observers stationed at the Mandelbaum Gate that he would be crossing over to the Israeli side later to protest the Israelis’ Independence Day parade, which he called “That damned Jewish provocation!”
Tanya was still writing down the last sentence of their conversation, translated into Hebrew, when Elie arrived. He came in with a burning cigarette dangling from his thin lips. She held up an ashtray for him to stub it. He had been showing up occasionally since his return from Zurich weeks earlier, trying to pry open her memories of the years with Klaus. She had been honest in her denials. Klaus had never told her the account number and password. But fearing that Elie would somehow interfere with Lemmy’s new life, she forced herself to treat him cordially.
“I have to call in a report,” Tanya said. “General Bull is upset, even though Eshkol cut the parade down to a joke.”
“What choice did he have?” Elie removed his wool cap and rubbed his gaunt skull. “All the foreign ambassadors are boycotting our Independence Day. In all fairness, the Armistice Agreement bans heavy weapons in Jerusalem.”
“That agreement is long dead. The Arabs are violating it.” Tanya poured him a cup of coffee. “The Sinai and the West Bank are filled with their tanks and cannons.”
Elie took the cup from her hand cautiously. “It’s the diplomacy of oil.”
“It’s the diplomacy of turning the other cheek. Eshkol has no right to downgrade Israel’s national birthday. A parade is an opportunity to showcase the IDF’s power to our nervous population.”
“What’s to showcase? President Johnson suspended delivery of the new Patton tanks and Skyhawk jets on condition that we allow American inspections of the nuclear reactor in Dimona. And the French are holding up the weapons we’ve already paid for. You think a parade would reassure the nation?” Elie took a sip of coffee. “Listen, I was thinking. Do you remember von Koenig’s birthday?”
“Sometime in 1910. April, I think.”
“You didn’t celebrate it?”
“Not really.” Tanya recalled Klaus returning from a field inspection, aching from endless hours in the car. When he saw the cake she had baked for him, he kissed her and asked her to give it to his driver, Felix. Instead of blowing out candles, they soaked in a hot bath. At first they listened to Wagner, but as Klaus’s mood improved, they piled more embers under the bath and started reciting lines from a play he had taken her to see in Berlin a month earlier. They ended up laughing so hard that the bathwater splashed all over the room.
“Tanya?”
“Yes.” She shook her head to drive away the sadness. “Klaus didn’t like to celebrate his birthday. But he was important enough that the date should be on record somewhere.” Before Elie could ask another question, she headed to the other room. “I must return to my work. Please let yourself out.”
Elie put down his cup of coffee. “Have you heard from Abraham?”
Something in his voice made Tanya pause. “Why should I hear from him?”
“Well, that’s interesting.”
“Why?”
He pulled the wool cap down over his ears and opened the front door. “It’s just that I assumed he would run straight to you with the bad news.”
“Bad news?” Her chest constricted with dread. “What bad news?”
T he drive from the Negev Desert to Jerusalem took over three hours, providing time for much-needed sleep. They woke up in the city, which was crowded despite the government’s call to stay home. Lemmy sat in the back of the truck and took in the incredible sight of thousands of Israelis in white shirts and blue pants, the children waving little flags, the windows and balconies along the road packed with cheerful spectators.
The soldiers jumped off the truck and assumed formation for the parade. Lemmy adjusted the flagpole against his hip and glanced at Sanani, who struggled to do the same. Just ahead, two half-tracks rolled into position. On a stage farther down, a band played a fast-paced tune while dignitaries took their seats.
His eyes searched the crowds. He knew his parents would never attend an event celebrating the Zionist state, and neither would Benjamin. But could Tanya be among the revelers, unaware that he was marching with his unit? He sought her pale, delicate face, framed by black hair, even though he knew how unlikely it was for her to leave her post. No. She was sitting dutifully inside that half-ruined house, wearing the bulky headphones, eavesdropping on secret communications across the nearby border.
The music stopped, and the thousands of spectators gradually quieted down. On the stage, the loudspeakers crackled, and a woman’s voice announced, “Prime Minister Levi Eshkol!”
Lemmy saw a stout man stand up and wave, earning isolated applause.
The announcer said, “The Chief of Staff, General Yitzhak Rabin.”
A man of average height and build, dressed in khaki uniform and an officer’s cap, stood up and saluted. Cheering swelled up and down the boulevard, and many launched into spontaneous singing, “ Nasser sits and waits for Rabin, ai, yai, yai… ”
Barely heard over the singing, the announcer kept listing the names of civilian and military leaders on the stage. But the singing persisted, “ And he should wait ’cause Rabin’s coming, ai, yai, yai… ”
There were no speeches, which was a good thing as the sun was beating down on them with full force. But before the marching commenced, the announcer invited the chief rabbi of the IDF to recite a blessing. Lemmy stood on his toes to get a better look at the contradiction-a rabbi in uniform. At Neturay Karta, Zionism was equated with blasphemy, and those who called themselves rabbis while supporting the state were mocked. But Rabbi Shlomo Goren, now a full general, had transformed the IDF into a Jewish army, with kosher kitchens and observance of Sabbath, enabling religious soldiers to serve without compromising their faith.
The rabbi recited a prayer for the soldiers of Israel in battle and victory. Then he chanted, “ If I forget thee, Jerusalem, my right hand shall wither. ” Many voices joined him. “ My tongue shall stick to my palate, if I don’t remember thee, if I do not put Jerusalem ahead of my own happiness. ”
Lemmy recalled his father atop the squat boulder in view of the Old City, chanting the same mournful song, defying the Jordanian sniper, whose bullet perforated the black hat. He remembered his father’s arm, resting on his shoulders as they descended the hill. Had that gesture reflected love? No, Lemmy thought, a loving father wouldn’t rip the lapel of his coat and declare his son dead while that son was standing, very much alive, in the back of the synagogue.
A whistle sounded. An officer took the microphone and called the units to attention. The civilian crowds swelled as more people arrived. The police barricades threatened to topple over under the pressure. Lemmy kept his face forward, the flagpole at the correct angle. But his eyes moved left and right, stubbornly searching for Tanya among the sea of faces.