"What girls? Where can you find girls around here? Here there is only Fatima, and she can recognize me without a tag."
Fatima, the Arab fantasy girl, who came into our minds before every operation. The first time we "met" her was before our assault on Deir Muheisin during the Nachshon operation. Somehow it is preferable to imagine the enemy as a pretty girl than as tanks and aircraft.
The whole thing reminds us a bit of the Nachshon days. In those days we came from the training camp, and now we are starting again after a month’s ceasefire. We are well rested. Last night we slept through to the morning, and we are well fed. Still, it is not the same atmosphere. Then, we were "green," full of expectations, and doing our very best not to show our nervousness. Now we are supposedly "experienced," fatalists who don’t get excited. Even the approaching "rendezvous" with Fatima leaves us cold.
* * *
"Pay attention, lads," says Aryeh Spack. He begins every talk with these three words. It is an amusing sight. We are sitting in the dining hall of Be’er Tuvia in the little children’s chairs, with our elbows lean-ing on the minute desks. A real kindergarten, with the company commander as the nursery school teacher.
"Right. While our comrades attack Iraq Suweidan and Beit Affa," says the "nursery school teacher," "we will distract Hatta and Karatiyya. Ahijah with two jeeps will deal with Hatta, Albert with two jeeps will drive on and handle Karatiyya. Radio contact will be maintained with MK 21."
The kindergarten yawns. We have known this operational plan backwards for at least a week. "We start in Jassir. The area around the village is mined. You will have to drive back along the road. Our recognition signal is three whistles or three flashes of the headlights." Most of us are looking out of the window. "Pity there aren’t any girls here" Israel whispers to me.
* * *
We are driving very slowly. A wadi. We cross it. Another wadi. Chadad, our driver, gets out to have a look. We drive across at an angle. Karatiyya is not far away, but we are not taking a direct route. We have lost at least a quarter of an hour.
A brief flash of light ahead of us. At last. We drive on a bit, then