purchasing the missile boats. On 10 November 1969, Limon in-
formed Cherbourg shipyard officials that the Israeli government had
decided to seek compensation from the French government for
breaching the agreement to deliver the missile boats to Israel, but that
Israel would concede the boats. The next day, Limon received a gen-
erous compensation offer from the Cherbourg officials, whereupon
he gave the go-ahead for Starboat’s purchase of the craft.
Siem met the French government’s arms vendor, General Louis
Bone, and told him that he had heard that several missile boats were
for sale and that he thought they might be converted to drill for oil.
The French general agreed to the sale in principle, on condition that
the boats were not reexported from Norway after their oil exploration
activity was over. Siem gave the French official his unequivocal
guarantee of this.
The next stage was to arrange a crew of 120 Israeli seamen to take
over the boats. The decision was to send only two men at a time to
France, to avoid any French suspicions that might be kindled if so
many Israelis were seen together in Cherbourg. The men were in-
structed not to stay at hotels close to the shipyard. All traveled with
genuine Israeli passports so that if they were caught they could not be
charged with carrying forged documents. By 23 December 1969 all
the seamen had reached their destination. The problem was that a
French official might notice eight days’ supplies being loaded for a
“short voyage to Norway.” It was solved by buying food at different
stores in the city and smuggling it aboard. The same solution was
used for the fuel supply.
On Christmas Eve 1969, rain was forecast in Cherbourg, driving in
from the southwest; nevertheless, at 8:30 P.M. the order to weigh an-
chor was given. The crews were already aboard, but because of the
weather the commanders on the spot contemplated delaying the de-
parture. However, instructions from Israel were to depart whatever
the weather. At 2:30 in the early hours of Christmas Day, the boats
put out to sea en route for Israel.
On the morning of 26 December, the French authorities realized
what had really happened on Christmas Eve. Although the Israeli
government did not admit responsibility for the affair, Limon, who
had lived in France for seven years, was declared persona non grata
by the French government and told to leave. Two French generals214 • NOAH’S ARK OPERATION06-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:25 AM Page 214