By July 2006, Nathan learned that MI5 had discovered Dr. Kelly had assisted Mossad on a number of occasions and that in his diary there was an indication he planned to contact the Mossad London station chief shortly before his death. There was no mention of the reason why and Nathan had set up an appointment. But had he learned that the MI5 inquiries included seeking answers as to whether the suicides of both Dr. Kelly and Dr. Ford were merely a coincidence—or something more sinister? Were all Dr. Kelly’s contacts with Mossad fully authorized—and if so, by whom? Who had given Dr. Kelly clearance to help Dr. Pasechnik to set up his company? And had the Russian’s death really been from a cerebral stroke—or had it been induced by some other method? It was no secret the Russians and other intelligence services had created fast-acting drugs that could mimic a stroke or heart attack—and leave no trace.
Nathan had been told to maintain a watching brief on developments. There was no more that Meir Dagan would, or could, do.
On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council finally agreed to the text of a Lebanese ceasefire resolution. Even as the details were being sent to Tel Aviv, in the Israeli Defense Forces war room the men around the table were about to launch a full scale land offensive into Lebanon using thirty-thousand troops and massive air strikes. Their target to reach the Litani River had finally been approved by Prime Minister Olmert. Then, despite furious criticism from his military chiefs around the table, Olmert had decided to wait and see for himself what the exact wording of the UN resolution contained. The generals had accused him of wavering and said that, no matter what the resolution said, this was the time to strike a decisive blow against Hezbollah. Olmert caved in. The IDF would launch its massive assault, bombard Beirut and other cities in south Lebanon, and send its soldiers deep into Hezbollah-held territory.
Within hours, an air armada of fifty-five helicopters, hugging the hills of southern Lebanon for protection, dropped paratroopers near the Litani River. Simultaneously an aerial bombardment fired twenty missiles into the Beirut suburbs. Hezbollah shot down an Israeli transport aircraft killing all five crew members including the woman copilot. They were among twenty-four IDF soldiers to die on that day. The IDF claimed it had killed forty Hezbollah fighters during that period. But over 250 rockets had rained down on northern Israel.
In the war room in the Kirya, the arguments carried on as to whether the UN resolution met Israel’s requirements. It called for Hezbollah “to cease all its attacks” while ordering Israel to end “only its offensive operations.” Chief of Staff General Dan Halutz insisted after the ceasefire his forces should be allowed to remain in their present positions in south Lebanon. It was finally agreed that Ehud Olmert could issue the briefest of statements that his government would accept the UN resolution.
Meir Dagan left the meeting knowing that Olmert failed to achieve his two reasons for launching the war: to crush Hezbollah and recover the two captured soldiers, Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Both had been the reasons given for Israel to go to war. The Mossad chief believed the two captured Israeli soldiers had been moved to the Beka’a Valley and he began to make preparations for another raid into the area. It would not be until 2008 that their bodies would be returned to Israel by Syria in exchange for the release of two hundred Hezbollah prisoners from Israeli jails. In the next few days his agents, accompanied by IDF commandos, once more flew to the Beka’a Valley. After a fierce hand-to-hand battle with Hezbollah fighters, the Israelis withdrew having failed to find the two soldiers. It was also a predictable paradox of the thirty-four days of war that the fire fight would come after both sides had theoretically agreed to halt hostilities. The truth was, Meir Dagan told his senior staff at their weekly meeting, no one had won the war.
