"Who do you trust?" "How do you know?" "By how they appear?" "Or what they say?" "Have you ever lied to me, Nathaniel?" " What they do?" " No." "Who told you about Shlomo Zahary's Hezbollah connection?" "I can't tell you that." "We all have secrets." "But sometimes, rarely..." "I know your secret, Ephra." "...something can happen that leaves you no choice but to reveal it." "Is your secret safe?" "No, it's not." "But mostly we tell lies." "We hide our secrets from each other, from ourselves." "So, when you think about it like that..." "Who is Kasim's father?" "...it's a wonder we trust anyone at all." "What about Palestinian rights?" "Which Palestinians are you talking about?" "The ones under the rule of the Palestinian Authority, or the ones under the rule of Hamas?" "Because Hamas, who run Gaza right now, not only refuse to acknowledge that the Israeli state exists, they keep flinging rockets into the country to prove it." "The effects aren't comparable." "You're talking David and Goliath." "How do the effects diminish the intention?" "I don't get it." "And if you're gonna talk David and Goliath, at least get your history the right way round." " Goliath came from Gaza." "Do you make these arguments because you're genuinely an Israeli apologist, or is it simply the fundamental default of being a Jew?" "Do you ask this question because you're genuinely anti-Semitic, or is it because you're an absolute fucking shit?" "Fish was good." " Why didn't you say something?" " Like what?" "You're the Middle East expert, Hugh." "You could have at least tried to calm things down." "That's not my job." "All I do is give other people information." "It's up to them to decide what they do with it." "And that way your lot sent us to war with Iraq." "And that way you separate yourself from the problem." "And you're very good at that, you really are." "Do you know what I'd like to see?" "You engaging with a problem, getting all hot and sweaty about it." " What, like those two idiots?" " Like it mattered." "To you." "Stick your head over a parapet." "You mean just before I get it shot off?" "At least then we'd know you stood for something." "We?" "Who's we?" "Me." "Then I'd know." "Darling, have you been upping my insurance?" " What?" " Well, you know." "There's only one qualification for martyrdom." "Death." "Modeh ani lefanecha." "Don't be afraid." "I'm safe." "I can't do this." "If it's the price for a nation." "So, here she is." "Little Judith, after her grandmother, who, er..." "left this house and this life too soon." "Too soon, but whose loss taught us to carry on and to endure all hardships and all trials and maybe this is why we called her Mazel also?" "Because for all of life's hardships, sometimes all you need is a little bit of luck." "So, look, I don't want to hold you up." "Er...the idea of me standing between Shlomo and a plate of food is" " a danger of truly biblical proportion." " True." "But I did just want to take this opportunity to say a few words." "I formally took over the reins of the Stein Group five years ago my father wisely guessing that before the age of 28 I probably would have blown it all on a lifestyle to match my, um..." "George Clooney looks." "But...but, having done so," "I know that what I decided to do with the company was so radical and, to many people's eyes, so appalling, that we lost a lot of friends which is why, seeing you here today," "in my father's house, means so much." "You've endured and we know that." "But, and there is a but I also hope and believe that we have enjoyed a little bit of luck." "The seeds of our educational investment programme are beginning to show their first fruits with faculty funding both in Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank seeing our first crop of graduates last year, and, to that end, next week, Nessa will be travelling to the West Bank... to formally open our computer faculty whilst our dear friend Shlomo Zahary is about to roll out phase one" "of our telecommunications network which will link it all together." "Thank you." "And as I stand here in front of my..." "beautiful baby daughter..." " ...who we're all doing a wonderfuljob of pretending she isn't crying when she really, really is," "I just wanted remind you that as idealistic and as foolish as many people have condemned me for being, we remain utterly committed and now we're beginning to flourish." " Our luck has held." " Ah, crazy kid." "How many times have I told you?" "Never ask for luck." "Never!" "Luck is a beautiful woman you turn away from, cos you know you ain't ever gonna get her." "And then, maybe then, she'll touch your shoulder." "And this I know because I married her." " Oh, Shlomo!" " Oh, yes." "Have you finished?" "Finished?" "Well, you keep talking like that, we all are!" " Ladies and gentlemen, enough of me." " Please go and help yourselves." " Let's get something to eat!" "Hi." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Even now, I think I can see her in Mazel." " Ephra." " True." "You don't mind that it's me making all these speeches?" "No, I prefer it." " It was your idea, all this." " You sell it better." "Really?" "Anyway, primogeniture - woe betide a little Jewish girl to get in the way of that." " Earlier today Israel welcomed..." " I'm proud of you." " ...the release of a soldier..." " Thank you." " ...from the Israeli Defence Force." " So would Papa be." "The Palestinian Authority, who claim to have negotiated the release of the Israeli soldier, insisted that the handover was a unilateral gesture of goodwill." "This position has been reinforced today by Israel's public reiteration of its refusal to negotiate with terrorists." "Yes, I think he would be." "It's bad news." " You're joking?" " He won't budge." "But after the September dossier..." "Well, you know Sir Christopher." "He's going to brass it out." "He shouldn't be given the choice." "He should be fired." "Publicly sacking the head of the Secret Intelligence Service?" "That's a little too transparent even for this government." "He has lost all credibility, every bloody ounce of it, and if he carries on in position, it's only going to bleed into the rest of us." "Yes, we all agree." "But he's simply not going to move on unless he's encouraged to." "Who by?" "Julia, you are the deputy head of the Secret Intelligence Service." "If you can't think of something, well, who can?" "Atika?" "Hi!" "Oh, I hope I didn't keep you waiting." "To be expected." "Atika Halabi." "Yes." "No, I know." "I know who you are." "I read all about you on the plane." " You're from Gaza." " Originally." " And do you get back there much?" " The borders are closed, Miss Stein." "No, no." "I know, I know." "I know." "I'm sorry." "Now anyway, my life is here now." "And Ephra says you are an excellent translator." "The proud graduate of one of your faculties." " Is no-one travelling with you?" " Who were you expecting?" "No-one." "Did they give you trouble?" " Yeah, a few calls." " Mm." "But once they knew who your father was..." "Well, I hope it's more once they know what my brother and I are all about." "Of course." "But I came prepared." "So, let's make the most of it, shall we?" "Welcome to the West Bank," " Miss Stein." " Thank you." "No, "Nessa", please, please." "It is a pleasure to be here." " OK, the car is just here." "Shall we?" " Yeah, yeah, OK." "So, this is your agenda for the day." "We arrive at the university, you will open the computer faculty, and then there will be people for you to meet from the university - staff, students - and also you should know, I think, they might be expecting you to make a speech." "Oh, yeah, I know." "I've been practising in the mirror all night." "You're not used to make speeches?" "Well, if there's one advantage to having a darling elder brother, it's that." "Mr Stein is well?" "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, he is." "Thank you." "I was expecting to see him." "You're not too disappointed, I hope?" "I hear he had a baby." "Yeah, a little girl." "Rachel's Tomb is where you crossed, you know." "Yeah, I know." "Unfortunately, she died in childbirth." "Many women, they go there to pray to become pregnant." "Be careful what you wish for." " Are you married?" " Oh, no." " You have a boyfriend?" " No." "Please, be sure to give my best wishes to Mr Stein." "Oh, I will." "Wow, there's such a lot of you!" "Um...it's wonderful to be here today not only to see these fantastic facilities for the first time but also to see all of you overwhelming as you are to this nervous speaker." "Is it raining?" " Yes?" " Yes." "I'd better be quick, then." "I mean, these computers... what are they, really?" "They're just pixels and digits and bits of circuitry, and as...as our programme continues to advance and we roll out more bits of wiring so that more pixels and more digits can connect to more universities," "it all gets to feel a bit technical, and also a bit overwhelming sometimes frankly, to someone like me when what it's all actually about is really very simple." "It's about you." "So... just use it." "Be curious." "Communicate." "Connect." "Share with each other and with other people." "Across the border, across the world." "Be the future." "Make it better." "It's really very simple." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "I think that's good luck, don't you?" " Yeah." " Oh, yes." "Ridiculous shoes I wore." "You have a wonderful campus." "You must be very proud." " And grateful." " It was just a contribution." "A very significant one." "It...it's true we're in early days, but I feel like there's a kind of excitement." " Oh!" "European languages?" " Yes." " Would it be possible..." " Of course." " And when do you start building?" " Building?" " For the extension." " What extension?" " For the European languages block." " We have no plan to put an extension." "Yes!" "Yes." "We donated a 1.5 million dollar grant towards it." "Not to us, Miss Stein." " Yes, to you." " No." "Yes." "Yes, it was in the paperwork." "I read it on the plane." "They are very worried." "They think..." "They think I think there's been corruption." "Yes." "Hello?" "No, listen." "Please tell him I need to speak with him now." " You shouldn't have come alone." "Yeah." "I didn't realise I was going to need assistance." "I can tell you, no question, that this has not happened in our institution." "We did not ask for a grant." " We do not need one." " Excuse me." "I need to take this." "Ephra, I think we have a situation here." "All right, let me deal with it." "But I'm here right now." "You'd better tell me what to do." "Er...nothing." "Don't...don't do anything." "Let me handle it." "I think I might have really put my foot in it." "Yeah, I think you might have done." "Where did you pick this up?" "I read it on the plane." " What?" "What did you read?" " A spreadsheet." "You read spreadsheets?" "I'm not just a ribbon-cutter, Ephra." " You should have checked with me first." " That's what I'm doing." " No, no, before you said anything." " I know, I know." "I'm sorry." "Let me contact the Education Minister at PA." " OK." "So should I..." " Look, no." "Just leave it to me." "If I've made a mistake, I want to apologise for it personally." "If?" "You've made a mistake, Nessa, a big one." "He says they could not possibly have approved this grant." "Their records suggest it went to the Shekba Institute of Higher Education." " Where is that?" " Gaza." "Gaza." "No." "No, we don't deal with Gaza." "Nor do they." "This is not a good place for you to be talking." "You shouldn't be hearing any of this." "I hear many things, Miss Stein, but I never, never speak of them." "Trust me." "I need a place where I can talk." "Where are you?" "In Ramallah." "You...you should come out of there, Nessa." "You should go home to Jerusalem." "Ephra, I'm looking at the figures." "A transfer was made." "But according to the minister, the money went into Gaza." "Well, when did we start funding projects in Gaza?" " We didn't." " Well, according to him we did." "Then he's mistaken." "Well, someone must have approved that payment from our side." "I know." "Ephra?" "There are still elements of Fatah in Gaza that the Authority unofficially supports." "What?" "It's possible they passed the money on, using us as cover." "Using us?" "We can't allow them to do that." "We cannot go accusing them of corruption, Nessa." "Well, we can if they did it." " In fact, we have to." " No." "We cannot be compromised, Ephra, ever." "The Authority is rife with this sort of thing, it has been for years, and...we have to work with it, because if we call it out, then they won't work with us any more." " That's corruption." " That's reality." " I don't accept it." " Well, then, you're going to have to." "I'm gonna call it." "That's the only way this can go." "No, there is only one way this is gonna go now." "A clerical error?" "This money was always intended for this university, and this is where it will be." "And you will allow your cash flow to be audited?" "Of course." "Our book is open." "Miss Stein, believe me, this was a genuine mistake." "We are very grateful to you for bringing it to our attention." "Miss Stein." "What else did you expect?" "Did that money go into Gaza?" "We'll never know." "1.5 million to an internationally recognised terrorist organisation?" " I think we should." " Well, I forbid you." "Oh, my brother forbids me?" "Just come home, Nessa, all right?" "Just, please, just come home." " You're just gonna let it go?" " There is nothing for us to follow." " There is if we look." " Don't." "Do you believe in what we're doing?" "Oh, I'm insulted you even have to ask." "Because it's not just the result, Ephra." "It's every little step." "We cannot be compromised." "Don't be so naive." "This is not the way to do it." "It's the Middle East, Nessa." "It's the only way." "And maybe that's why, from now on, you should stick to cutting ribbons... at home." "You want to go to Gaza?" " Can you get me in there?" " Maybe." "But I would need to trace that money." "There are people you could speak to." "Who?" "Not everyone support Hamas." "But it is dangerous." "Well, I don't want to put you at risk." "Gaza is my home." "I am born to it." "But for you, maybe it's not worth the risk." "Do you have brothers?" "No." "I'm an orphan." "So are we." "I love him so much." "But we have to do this right." "Put your scarf on." "Welcome to Gaza." "Oh." "Oh, look." "Look, look." "Yeah?" " Yeah?" " No, sir." "She hasn't returned to Jerusalem and the hotel in Ramallah has no record" " of her either." " What's happened?" "It's, er..." "Nessa." "We, um..." " What?" " We're not sure where she is." "Who's with her?" " You let her go out there alone?" " No, she's with my translator." " So, call him." " It's a her, and she's not answering either." "Get me this number." " Washington State?" " DC." "Rachel, take Hannah home, would you?" "What's going on?" " Rachel, please." "Hannah, darling, we're going home." "Yeah." "Yeah, put her through." "Yes, there's a problem." " Are you all right?" " Yeah." "Funny to think we're just over an hour from Tel-Aviv." "The man we were due to meet here," " he's pulled out." " What?" "It's not safe for him." "And it's safe for me?" "Collaboration here, especially with you, it's very dangerous." "For everyone." "There's someone else." "Who?" "He's Fatah, but he knows people in the administration." "If the money you're looking for has come to them, he'll be able to tell us." "OK." "Let's meet him." "There's one problem." "He won't come here." "We would have to go to him." "So?" "Let's do it." "Let's do it?" "Are you crazy?" "Before, we had a plan." "Now we don't." "In a place like this, without a plan, you should get out." "But we're here now." "And from here, we can leave." "I want to meet him." "For what?" "For your company?" "Or for you against your brother?" "Which?" " What do you think?" " I think both." "This company cannot be compromised." "You cannot be compromised." "One serves the other." "Then you are the company." "Yes, I am." "I just have to prove it." "I think you already have." "My ears!" "I can't hear you!" "We don't negotiate with terrorists." "Neither do we." "But just so as you know, they want 1.5 million dollars for her." "The Al Karameh Brigade." " Zahid Al-Zahid." " Yes, a dinosaur..." " ...whose time has passed." " Well, clearly, he's still alive." "Not for us." "We have withdrawn from Gaza." "Let them fight it out amongst themselves." " For Nessa Stein?" " Zahid is Fatah." "Gaza is run by Hamas." "They hate each other." "No wonder he's scuttling around in cellars." "You see our problem?" "How can we negotiate with any of these people, when all they want to do is kill each other?" " We have no contact with Al-Zahid." " I have a woman, who has a British passport, who is being held by an armed wing of your organisation." "We don't have an armed wing." "Maybe you've forgotten to tell that to Al-Zahid." "We can't tell him anything." "He's in Gaza and Gaza is run by Hamas now." "We have no jurisdiction there, not since the Americans forced us to have that election." "I'm sorry." "We cannot help you." "Then who can?" "So, let me get this straight." "It is the position of the UK government not to help my sister." "It is the position of the Israeli government not to help my sister, and it is the position of the PLO not to help my sister." "At least now I know where charity ends." " She shouldn't have gone in there." " But there she is." "And I think you already know what has to happen next." "It is the strong advice of the British Government that you do not enter negotiations with these people." "Is that so?" "And should you do so, I am in a position to formally warn you that this government may enact sanctions against any part or parts of your company believed to be involved." "Where would you say you were on the pay scale, Mrs Walsh?" "How far up?" "To make those kind of statements." "Pretty high." "So, you think you have the authority of your government, to come in here and threaten me?" "I think you should listen very carefully." "We do not negotiate with terrorists." "Really?" "Well, then, I'm sorry to have to inform you that you're lower down that pay scale than you think." "So, you go and tell your boss, Sir Christopher, something from me." "He was happy to help us out last time." "Why not this?" "Last time?" "It's not a hook, Mrs Walsh." "It's a message." "Run along and give it." "That was quick." "It was a short message." "Who the fuck do you think you are?" "You think that you can play games with a national government and win?" " I think I've got a pretty strong hand." " Hand?" "Cards?" "Oh, my God, you think you're the fucking Sundance Kid!" "You are so going to lose." "Everything." "If you really had been doing something with my superior..." "Oh, I have." "...then, sure as shit, he'll have had you sign the Official Secrets Act." "I know him." "He loves a contract, does Christopher, which is how I know precisely where I am on the pay scale." "You so much as whisper a word to your fucking wife, let alone a journalist, and that'll be two Steins banged up, with no hope of getting" " either one of you out." " You don't get to..." "I have not... finished." "You cannot win, Mr Stein..." "not at this level." "You shouldn't even be playing." "If you really were Robert Redford, right now that's the Bolivian army outside and all their guns are pointed at you." "However, you are correct in one thing." "You want any chance of getting out of this mess, you, your family, your business, maybe even your sister, then you do need to tell someone everything you know and that someone is me." "Now you may talk." "And you swam over from Washington?" "It increases blood volume." "Why don't you step in and put your feet up?" "What is it you want to talk about?" "Ephra Stein." "And how much?" "1.5 million dollars." "Channelled through Ephra Stein's education charity to an institute in Gaza." "But in reality a payment to secure the release of an Israeli soldier." "Which it got." "Secured by Ephra Stein." " And the Israelis?" " Know nothing." "As soon as they agreed to withdraw from Gaza, they couldn't get involved." "The money came from Harold Parr." "The American?" "He's AIPAC." "Big-time, and a huge Republican donor." "But you know the rugged individualists, always a law unto themselves." "And why you?" "I was approached through the Washington Bureau." "They wanted to get that boy out, Julia, and they couldn't think of another way of doing it and I just carried the message." "To Ephra Stein." "And then to Sir Christopher." "Which I recorded." "Just in case..." "Just in case a day like today ever arrived." " So, he didn't block the deal?" " Sir Christopher?" "No, no." "Parr's offered him a university chancellorship over there," " for when he steps down." " Where?" "Kent, Connecticut." "Not Ivy League." " Huh!" " Sold himself cheap." "So..." "I'm guessing you're about to gun for his job." " And what do you want?" " Yours." " For that recording of Sir Christopher?" " Yes, please." "But I'd like to stay in Washington a while yet, seeing as I'm making so many new friends." " How long?" " Few years." "Give your present job to a night watchman, then call me over to walk in your wake, as it were." "I'll have to burn Harold Parr." " To the Israelis?" " Mm." "That's fine." "They'll bury it." "They won't let this go public." "But I..." "I have one other stipulation." "The Stein Foundation has to stay intact." "It cannot be compromised." "It already is." "The Israelis will know." "Hamas probably already does." "But the world doesn't." "What's just happened, it can be cauterised." "Cauterised?" "That's clinical." "But what that company stands for, what it's trying to do, in the eyes of the world," " that has to stay intact." " Why?" " Because it'll help." " What?" "For us to construct peace in the Middle East." "Then maybe you should start with Nessa Stein." " And get her out of Gaza?" " Yes." "They're parking that one." "Parking?" "My, how you're picking up on the lingo!" "And will they be "circling back on it" any time in the future?" "From now on, Julia, we really don't negotiate with terrorists." "Daniel, I'm afraid I have some rather distressing news for you." "Done." "Sir Christopher Grieff announced his retirement today after six years as head of the Secret Intelligence Service." "No direct reason has been cited, although rumours of a chancellorship at an American university have not been denied." "Harold Parr today stepped down as a leading member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee." "A representative of the Israeli Embassy in Washington thanked Mr Parr for his great contribution to American/Israeli affairs but looked on his retirement as an opportunity for both sides to re-examine the strength of their bonds." "Julia Walsh has been named as the new head of the Secret Intelligence Service." "Walsh, 45, a career civil servant and previously head of the service's Middle East department, made no comment this evening, which is perhaps only appropriate for the latest incumbent of that legendary nickname, C." "Hello?" " Are you still fucking your wife?" " Actually, I was sleeping." "Yeah, for quite a while now." "Time to wake up, so you can come over here and fuck me in your new office." "What new office?" "I'm giving you the Middle East desk." "Well, I can't just be shagging any old analyst, now, can I?" "There are a few strings, though." "A couple of places I don't want you to look." "One of them's my stomach." "And the other?" "The Stein Foundation." "I'm a realist, Julia." "That's why I've offered you the job." "If you try to get her released, by any means, we will find out where she is and we will bomb it." "If you try to compromise us again, in any way, we will find out where she is and we will bomb it." "If from now on you don't do exactly what we say, we will bomb it." "Please, please." "I will do anything." " You've done it all already." " Please." "Get up!" "We only ever had each other!" "Please!" "So every morning, every single morning that you wake up and you say your prayers, you say them for her, because you are the one who put her there." "And God may forgive you for what you've done." "But Israel won't." " Get up." "This is my wife." "This is my daughter." "When you take away my wife when you take away my child my life all you've got is nothing." "Then... you will fight with whatever you have left." "Lie down." "What are you going to do?" "Lie down." "You don't have to do this." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "You're going to kill her!" "Stop it!" "OK, look, I'm lying down!" "I'm lying down, look!" "I'm lying down!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "I'm lying down!" "It's all right." "It's OK." "It's OK." "It's all right." "Turn...turn around." "He has been banished." "He's not allowed to return." "But you will not be allowed an abortion." "The sharia life's sacred, no matter how it was created." "I can do it to myself." " I can do it to myself." "You will have the child here." "No." " You must." " No." "If you kill the child, they kill me." " But if you have it, afterwards you will be allowed..." "they're going to let you go, Nessa." "They're going to let you go home, and you will be free to tell the world what happened to you." "They'll say nothing." "This is their shame, their punishment, for you to speak of them as you wish." "You have that power." "What about you?" "What's going to happen to you?" "I still burned him." "She has to come with me." "Tell them." "Nessa, I can't ask that." "It's impossible." "Nessa, I can't." "Please." "I give you my heart." "I give you both hearts." "Please." "She must come with me." "Please." "Yes." "Nessa." "Ah."