Sa'id's interim appointment was only for eighteen months. But he'd insisted upon democratic Palestinian elections as part of his agreement to accept the prime ministership, and the PLC had readily agreed, so that wasn't likely to be a problem.
So far, so good. But it was the next section that would set off the fireworks.
Washington's focus was now on the FBI field office in Buffalo.
Special Agent George Polanski took a call from Dorothy Richards, Ruth Bennett's sister, from her farm in Lackawanna, just south of Buffalo. She was sorry for calling so early, but she was worried. Mrs. Richards explained that she and her husband had attended a New Year's Eve party at a neighbor's. It was their first time out of the house since Ruth's disappearance and they were hoping to let off a little steam. They'd just gotten home and found two voice-mail messages. Both were from their grown children, one in San Diego, the other in Austin, Texas. But when they'd checked their "call log," they found two calls from the 212 area code in New York City. Both were from the same phone, but the number wasn't one they recognized. The caller ID system had been blocked from the other end.
Was it Ruth? Was it her kidnappers? Was it a ransom call they'd missed? They had no idea. Cursing themselves for not being home to get the calls, they wrote down the number and called the FBI field office, as they'd been instructed to do if anything unusual came up.
Polanski immediately dispatched agents to the Richardses' farm to take a full statement and tap their phones. A colleague began running a trace of the 212 number. Simultaneously, Polanski called the FBI Operations Center in Washington to brief them on the newest development. Nine minutes later, his phone was ringing off the hook.
"Polanski."
"Special Agent George Polanski?"
"Yeah, who's this?"
"This is the White House operator. Please stand by for the president."
Polanski couldn't believe it. He cradled the phone on his shoulder and began rummaging through his desk. He found his bottle of Turns and popped it open. It was empty. Suddenly the president was on the line.
"Agent Polanski?" Yes, sir.
"This is Jim MacPherson. How are you today?"
"Busy, sir. And you?"
"I'll bet you are. As you can imagine, I'm taking a special interest in this case. What can you tell me about this phone call to the Richardses' farm?"
"Not much sir, I…"
Polanski's partner was shoving a yellow legal pad in his face with some scribbles he could barely read.
"Wait, hold on a moment, Mr. President, I may have something here… "
"Take your time, son." Yes, sir—1…
"What is it?" MacPherson demanded.
"You sure this is right?" Polanski asked his partner.
"Agent Polanski, what have you got?" the president asked again.
"Sir, we just ran a trace on this number… "
"Whose phone is it?"
"Mr. President, it's.."
"It's what?"
"Sir.. it's… it's Jon Bennett's cell phone."
FORTY-ONE
Bennett hesitated.
But there was no getting around it. So he braced himself, and dived in.
C. Security and Terror Prevention Arrangements
During the Transition Period, the United States will continue to be responsible for overall security, as well as for the freedom of passage in the entire area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea
The United States will assist the PAA in recruiting, hiring, training, and deploying police and law enforcement officers. The employees of the new PAA security forces will be Palestinians who have not been involved, directly or indirectly, in any terror activities or the civil war.
The United States will also assist the PAA in establishing an independent judiciary, including the recruitment, hiring, training, and oversight of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders, all for the purpose of establishing the rule of law and ensuring fair, speedy, and just trials and all manner of legal procedures.
For security purposes, Israel will have the right to set up transition zones and buffer zones — in cooperation with U.S. forces and PAA leaders — using any appropriate method, to prevent the renewal and resurgence of terror activities.
It sounded innocuous enough, but Sa'id was furious.
"Absolutely not — that's completely unacceptable," he said instantly and a bit louder than he'd meant to. "Of course I accept Israel's need for security. But that last part is nothing but a thinly veiled cover for Doron's illegal and
immoral 'security fence' between our two peoples. We are absolutely and unequivocally opposed to such language, and I can tell you right now, Jonathan, that this is a deal breaker for us."
Bennett had been warned in a conference call a few days before with Deputy Secretary (and now acting Secretary of State) Dick Cavanaugh to expect precisely this reaction. But Sa'id was even more heated than Bennett had expected from an old friend.
It was true that between Israel and the West Bank, the government of Israel was already building a wall some 20 feet high and 220 miles long, including around the 30-mile perimeter of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, effectively cutting off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. This would be combined with a sophisticated network of underground and long-range electronic sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, trenches, land mines, guard paths and checkpoints reminiscent of Checkpoint Charlie between East and West Berlin during the cold war.
Eighty-five miles were already complete — at a cost of some $2 million a mile — but Palestinian officials were going ballistic. "This is a fascist, apartheid measure being done, and we do not accept it," Arafat had told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. "We will continue rejecting it by all means." Mohammed Dahlan echoed the apartheid theme, telling the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonot that "this fence will be a fence of hate. The 'whites' will be in Tel Aviv and the 'blacks' in the West Bank."
Doron wasn't about to be swayed.
"A security fence is absolutely nonnegotiable," the Israeli prime minister said quietly. "Look at all the suicide bombers. Look at what's happening in the territories right now. I simply cannot allow Israeli citizens to be vulnerable to such violence day after day after day. A fence doesn't solve every problem but it solves many of them. We should have finished it a long time ago."
"No, no, I'm sorry, no," Sa'id responded, careful to control his passion. "You are constructing the Berlin Wall. No matter what you call it, it becomes a de facto political boundary. And after you spend a billion dollars on it, are you going to take it down? Of course not. A fence creates facts on the ground that affect the final status. So it's either one or the other. Either we negotiate our boundaries now, and probably get nowhere, or we negotiate a Transition Period, and no fence."
"Whoa, whoa, gentlemen," Bennett broke in. "You've got problems with this section. That's fine. I promise you we will take all the time it takes to work our way through that mine field. But not today. That starts Monday. Fair enough?"
It was a serious stumbling block. But they could certainly wait another few days. Both men nodded, reluctantly.
Now it was the president who hesitated.
Bennett was in the middle of sensitive negotiations at a critical moment. The last thing MacPherson wanted to do was interrupt whatever momentum the peace talks were beginning to develop, or further distract an already beleaguered Bennett as he guided the two prime ministers through the plan.
Still, they needed Bennett's input. Did he have his cell phone with him on the "Mount of Olives"? It wasn't his White House phone. That had a 202 area code number. It was his GSX phone. Why was he still using it? Had he called his aunt? Twice? Why hadn't he left a message? Or did someone else have his cell phone? And if so, why?