The head of the Mossad section that dealt with international relations said "Our colleagues in the Indian Intelligence Bureau, India's internal intelligence agency, had raised the possibility that the couple was kidnapped and transported over the border to Pakistan. They found that during the week of September 13th, close to the time the Israeli couple had disappeared, there were incidents of heavy drinking among the border police at the Chakothi-Uri Xing Point. The sergeant in charge of the post was dishonorably discharged from the service for negligent behavior and it also turned out that he had received monetary bribes and alcohol. Putting two and two together I guess that it is where and when they were moved to Pakistan."
The ISA participant said "We have found no connections between the missing people. Morris and Vicki Aladgem are in their sixties and from Bat-Yam, Nate and Shulamit Levy are in their forties and from Haifa, two young men Avi and Ari had just completed their military service and are in their early twenties and Inbal and Zorik are in their late twenties and from Tel Aviv."
David Avivi raised his hand quietly and said "Looking at the timing of the disappearances — this has to be connected to the Iranian nuclear scientists. Also the fact that the missing Israelis were kidnapped, or so we assume, at different locations indicates that there is a powerful organization involved. This is not a series of random acts or incidents and certainly not a simple ransom demand situation."
Shimony looked around and saw that all the participants seemed to agree with David's comment, so he asked "What do we do now?" When no one volunteered to speak he added "I think that we have to approach the Iranians through backchannels and convince them that we were not involved in the incidents with their nuclear scientists. We can do this through our European friends that were so eager to do business with Iran after the nuclear deal was signed and implemented and the sanctions were removed". He then looked at David and said "I appoint David Avivi as my personal envoy to head our efforts in resolving this matter. It is his prerogative to also enlist the help of the Americans and Russians or even the Chinese if he sees this helpful. You are all required to fully cooperate with him."
After leaving the meeting, David used a secure line to call his friend from the American National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), Dr. Eugene Powers. He gave him a short update on the missing Israelis and asked him to enquire if the American intelligence community had picked up anything relevant and Eugene promised to get back to him. David then called one of his colleagues, Dr. Fritz Mayer, in the German Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym as the BND. Dr. Mayer was glad to cooperate and said that the BND had heard about the Iranian scientists and missing Israelis and suspected that there was a direct connection. He added that several German firms were doing a thriving business with Iran, and mainly with firms controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He promised that he would enlist the help of their contacts in Iran to try to discover the whereabouts of the missing Israelis. Finally, David called General Dmitri (Dima) Koliagin who was in charge of the Iranian desk of the FSB, the Russian state security organization, and asked for his help. Dima asked what he had to offer in return and David, who had expected this question, said that he would reveal something that would truly surprise the general. The general agreed to see what he could find out and arranged to speak to David the next day. David considered calling the Chinese but then decided that they were too enigmatic and in any case the Russians were deeply involved with the Iranian nuclear program, especially after the agreement to remove sanctions was signed. The Russians had received the Iranian stocks of low-enriched uranium and in return supplied Iran with natural "yellow cake" uranium. They were also negotiating a deal to build a couple of new nuclear power plants in Iran in addition to the one operating in Bushehr.
The Senior Assistant of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran summoned General Aslawi who was in charge of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards for a private meeting to discuss the progress of the plan to retaliate against Israel.
The general asked "Is the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) late?"
But the Senior Assistant just said "His presence is not required, because what we are going to discuss may upset him."
The general shrugged and brought the Senior Assistant up to date. He said "So far eight Israelis are held in Evin Prison. All of them had been captured without any evidence of our involvement". He added "The Israelis are probably suspicious that Iran is behind the kidnappings but our agents made sure that there would be no proof of that". He asked the Supreme Leader's representative "When should we present our demands to Israel. Do we need more hostages?"
The Senior Assistant looked at him and answered "We'll wait until there is a public outcry against the Jewish government, until Israelis fear to travel abroad, until everyone who dares to leave the safety of Israel will look over his shoulder every moment. Yes, we should continue to capture a few more hostages to strengthen our position."
The general who knew that Israelis were not easily intimidated sighed and said "This could lead to an extended confrontation without any winners. The people of Iran want revenge and want it to be seen and want it now."
The Senior Assistant's face turned red "This is the decree of the Supreme Leader. Perhaps you want to join the hostages at Evin Prison? I am sure the Israelis will gladly pay a nice price for getting you alive." The general could barely restrain himself from getting up and walking out of the room or perhaps even slap the guy who tried to threaten him. The Senior Assistant realized that he had gone too far and in a conciliatory tone said "General Aslawi, I know you are doing your best. Perhaps we should look for hostages with a high profile in Israel — journalists, celebrities, people closely related to the ruling elite, important scientists or high ranking officers or intelligence operatives." The general nodded his approval, and the Senior Assistant added "Make a list of prime targets that may be accessible by our agents or collaborators and give me operational scenarios that could be implemented."
The next day the general returned to the Senior Assistant and brought a list of two dozen names of senior Israelis that were currently in Europe. Some were regarded by Israeli security authorities, and of course by themselves, as worthy of having bodyguards when they travelled abroad. These were initially ruled out because an armed confrontation on foreign soil would not serve Iran's objective of appearing not to be involved. Some others were currently in countries where the local police was very effective like Switzerland, and others were on a family vacation with small kids that could complicate their quiet extraction across international borders. The general recommended that they focus on an elderly Member of Knesset (the Israeli parliament) from the coalition who was on a very private, and semi-secret, vacation in Cyprus with his young boyfriend. The Senior Assistant approved and said that the potential for a scandal that would be noticed by the international media was very promising. He cautioned the general, quite unnecessarily, to avoid leaving any evidence of an Iranian operation.
David didn't receive any useful information from his American and German colleagues. Eugene said that the US had not managed to develop a network of informers inside the IRG and that official ties between the two countries were only progressing slowly. He added that the US was still regarded widely by the Iranian government and masses as the Great Satan, while the students and intellectuals wanted to copy everything from the West but had to do so surreptitiously. Dr. Fritz Mayer of the BND said that he needed more time because the commercial firms were unwilling to cooperate with the BND as they didn't want to risk their lucrative business arrangements in Iran.