“I’m speaking as a rabbi. Philosophically, Agent Vail. Each person believes his view is objective, when in fact it’s subjective because he approaches a topic or an issue with his own worldview. And his worldview influences his read of documents, of evidence, of history. He considers facts through the lens of his preconceived belief system, and he accepts as true all of those things that reinforce his worldview. He rejects all of those that don’t.”
“But truth is based on a set of facts that actually happened,” Uzi said.
“Ah, but my truth may be different from your truth because I’m telling you what I saw. And what I saw is different from what you saw because I see through my eyes, which means those facts have already been interpreted through my lens — my past experiences, my observations, my beliefs. My filters. So there is no such thing as a singular truth — not even in mathematics. There are too many variables. It’s truth according to me. Follow?”
“I understand the concept,” Vail said. “But it’s hard for me to accept given everything I’ve devoted my life to. Law and order, evidence, testimony.”
“Then I’ve given you something to ponder. The rabbi in me is happy. But here’s my point. Take it a step farther and apply these concepts to conflict resolution — in this case, a peace process. Everyone sees the world through his own narrative and doesn’t accept the veracity of the other person’s narrative. That’s what we’re dealing with regarding the Palestinians. The Palestinians reject the evidence that the First and Second Temples existed because it doesn’t fit their worldview. They believe that Jews have no claim to the land of Israel. And because of that belief, the Palestinians refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist. This goes, of course, to the heart of the Hamas and al Humat charters. It’s all stated there in black and white for anyone to read. It’s why Palestinian textbooks teach the children that one day they will kick the Jews out and inhabit all of the land.”
“And that brings us back to what I was talking about before,” Yakov said. “The notes in the margins of the codex. Some of them make specific mention of King David’s palaces. They even note where the kingdom was located.”
“And why is this a problem?” Vail asked. “Sounds like a good thing.”
Yakov smiled for the first time — wanly. “Because a couple of years ago ruins were discovered that archaeologists believe are from one of David’s palaces. There were earthenware storage vessels inside with Hebrew impressions that read, ‘To the king.’ It’s a problem because I know these ruins are what’s described in those notes in the codex.”
“I’m still not getting it,” Vail said.
Halevi said, “These ruins are on Palestinian land in Bethlehem.”
“Ah. That explains it.” Uzi nodded slowly. “Because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, there’s no way the Orthodox ministers in the Israeli government would agree to a peace deal that gives away their ancestors’ sacred land, land where one of King David’s palaces sits.”
“This is why the settlers live in Area C in the West Bank,” Halevi said. “There is historical record of Jews having lived in the West Bank. Other archaeological finds — buildings, documents, tablets, burial grounds, coins, parchments, Torahs. It’s very compelling evidence, if not conclusive. And when you put it together with a document written in the tenth century, at a time when there was no land dispute, no reason to lie or manipulate information, you have something that not only directly contradicts the Palestinian worldview but it makes it virtually impossible for Orthodox Jews to give up land that needs to be part of a two-state solution.”
“That problem with facts and truths my son mentioned,” Yakov said, “which he fixates on … When you start to line up multiple instances of disparate, unrelated instances that corroborate and support a set of proposed facts, these facts became less suspect and move toward being a real, verifiable fact. A truth.”
“I understand that,” Uzi said. “But land swaps would be part of any peace deal to meet security needs. The Israelis and Palestinians could simply swap that Biblically significant land for other land.”
“You’re not talking about ‘just’ a palace,” Halevi said, “but a kingdom that covered a very large area. The Jews have lived there for thousands of years. That’s the problem with the settler movement. I don’t disagree with them. But what you said earlier, Agent Vail, that at some point you have to compromise, I agree. There needs to be peace, and if the radical factions can be neutralized and if we can have a legitimate government on the other side that can enforce an agreement, like Egypt and Jordan have, it’s best for everyone.”
Uzi turned to Vail. “And that brings us to the other obstacle.”
“The mind-set of the region that you mentioned.”
“Right. The notion of compromise doesn’t compute in the Middle East. The unspoken MO is that giving something to your opponent doesn’t promote reconciliation with them, it just tells them they can demand more. You give them something, they’ll be at your throat for more. Compromise is seen as a weakness. So you don’t dare give anything — not an inch. It’s the way the Arab world thinks. And since half the Jews in Israel were kicked out of their homes in Muslim countries in the twentieth century, they’re intimately familiar with the concept.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Vail said. “It’s crazy.”
“To you and me, yeah. But in the context of the Middle East, it makes perfect sense. It’s the way things are done, the way they have been done. But even if you can fight that backward mind-set, you’ve got another insurmountable obstacle: groups like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and al Humat don’t want a peace deal, they want the land. All the land — all of Israel. No matter what proof is unearthed, they’ll never accept that Jews have lived there for thousands of years.”
“The irony,” Halevi said, “is that in Islam there are ancient documents that refer to the Temple and talk about King David being in Jerusalem, about Jews living there. These are their own ancient texts. Yet the extremists reject them because they can’t accept it. They refuse to accept it.”
Vail thought about that a second. “Do they know what they’ve got? With the codex.”
The elder rabbi leaned back in his seat. “Do they know the importance of the codex and its value to the world’s religions and, obviously, to Israel? I have no doubt.”
“Right,” Vail said. “That’s why they broke into the vault. That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the notes in the margin.”
Yakov pulled on his beard. “I don’t think so. They’d have to be able to read and interpret the Hebrew and I just don’t think Islamic extremists are interested in reading a holy Jewish text. They’d also have to put it together with the Bethlehem archaeological find, which the government has tried to keep under wraps because of the potential fallout with the Palestinians. The bigger the deal you make about it, the more of an issue it becomes. Negotiations become more difficult, start to look like blackmail.”
And they’re apparently difficult enough without ancient texts adding complications.
Vail rose from the couch, followed by Uzi. “Thank you.” She pulled out her card and handed it to Halevi. “You think of anything else, please let us know.”
26
Uzi checked his phone while they descended in the slow-moving elevator.
Vail took a deep breath and kept her gaze on the floor.