THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

New Middle East Mystery: `Five Minutes to Midnight'

There is a new genre in
books today. -It is what I
would call the terrorist-
espionage novel and its
locale is primarily the
Mideast with Israel either
the central or tangential
focus.
Sabi H. Shabtai's "Five
Minutes to Midnight" (De-
lacorte Press) is one of the
best of the current crop, not
so much for the elegance of
its composition or writing
style but because of its
imaginative, if extravag-
ant, plot and the author's
grasp of the intrigues in-
volved in international es-
pionage and intelligence
operations.
In his novel, Shabtai de-
scribes a terrorist response
to the Entebbe exploit. Car-
los, the "Jackal," is heading
an international team of
hit-men who are going to
execute a blackmail scheme
of such ample proportions
that it boggles the mind.
The plan includes the
seizure of a catamaran
tourist boat which
cruises on the Potomac
(with abotit -- -300
passengers). The capture
of the boat is a diversio-
nary tactic, however. The
real target which Carlos
has set for himself is a
series of nuclear power
plants which his group is
slated to occupy through
the connivance of an ac-
complice who does not
grasp the full meaning of
his involvement in the
elaborate scheme.
Pitted against this diabol-
ical man and his even more
diabolical idea are several
intelligence agencies, a pro-
fessor of political science
who specializes in counter-
insurgency and a beautiful
Israeli fashion consultant
who is an undercover Mos-
sad agent.

Technion Prof
Plans Monument
for Egypt in Sinai

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Prof.
Alfred Mansfeld of Techn-
ion's Faculty of Architec-
ture and Town Planning
has been commissioned by
Egypt to submit a design for
the inter-faith monument to
peace Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat wishes to
build at the foot of Mount
Sinai.
Mansfeld is one of three
internationally known ar-
chitects selected for the
project. He designed the
synagogue that will occupy
a third of the area set aside
for the sanctuary, along
with a mosque designed by
Egyptian architect A. El
Rimaly and a church de-
signed by French architect
Pierre Vago.
The three architects pre-
sented their coordinated
plans to Sadat late last year
and received his approval.
The entire project is ex-
pected to be completed
within five years and cost
an estimated $30-$40 mil-
lion. The money will be pro-
vided by the Egyptian gov-
ernment and other sources
around the world.

The book has many
weaknesses. The dialogue
in many places is inane. The
characters are stereotypic.
The atmospherics of the
novel suggests a newspaper
paste job in which headlines
from the last five years are
integrated into the plot line
and not always felicitously.
Nevertheless, Shabtai's
novel has an irresistible
charm to it. Gauging and
analyzing that charm is dif-
ficult. It derives in part from
the portraiture of Carlos
himself. The Israeli author
of this far-fetched work has
done his homework on the
Venezuelan Marxist and
manages to capture in
words the perverted bril-
liance which Carlos has de-
ployed in the service of the
international terrorist
community.

SABI SHABTAI

Similarly, the delinea-
tion of Sam Sartain, the
American academic with
a rather unique scholarly

specialty, is done quite
well. Sartain's role is a
key one in the book and it
is primarily through this
character that the plot of
the novel unfolds.
Undoubtedly author
Shabtai has a film script in
mind for the action in his
book takes place on three
continents as he moves his
terrorists through North
Africa and the Mideast.
Americans are represented
by remnants of the Weath-
ermen who are co-opted into
working for the CIA. The
German Baader-Meinhof
group also gets involved in
the action.
There is a surprise ending
to this exciting novel. I
thought I knew the genre

rather well, but I was- to-
tally unprepared for the de-
nouement of Shabtai's
story.

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HAPPY 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

LILLIAN AND HARRY THOMAS

All our love,

Your California Menagerie
Elinor and Roy Glass
Sharon and Michael Glass
Lennie and Ann Thomas
and Grandchildren,
Amy, Keren, Cynde, Andrew, Gregory

Peace Now Asks
Begin Resignation

TEL AVIV (JTA) — One
of the sections read in the
Passover Haggada is "Day-
enu," which can be trans-
lated as "we are content" or
"we've had -enough:" -
The Peace Now move-
ment took the second mean-
ing last week in attempting
to form a "Dayenu Chain"
from Haifa to the President-
ial residence in Jerusalem
calling for Premier
Menahem Begin's resigna-
tion.
Several thousand persons
lined the 100-mile route.
from Haifa to Jerusalem
carrying such signs as "Be-
gin, Go to the President" (to
offer his resignation); "We
have had enough of you,"
and "Don't Miss the Peace."
Peace Now leaders is-
sued a statement charg-
ing that Begin was fol-
lowing a policy that
would lead to "perpetual
war."
Some Likud leaders said
the demonstration was a
threat to democracy. They
said a government resigns
because it loses a vote in the
Knesset not because of
demonstrators along a
highway.

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New Aircraft

WASHINGTON — Is-
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tled on the General Electric
F404 as the engine to power
a new Israeli aircraft and
has asked the U.S. govern-
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Friday, April 4, 1980 21

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