The Exodus Foundation

The Exodus Foundation is set at the time of the Oslo peace process when Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister. A well-known biographer receives an attractive offer from an Australian-Jewish millionaire to write a biography of Yosef Efrati (an alias). Efrati is an inconspicuous member of the Labor Party, who has held a number of public positions and has always stood by the “strong man” of the time. But in his old age, his political views have become overtly – and extremely – dovish. Kenan, the biographer, starts collecting material and then enlists the help of Tania, a talented tele­vision investigator whose father is Efrati`s cousin. The two work together as a detective team and, as in the best suspense novels, the plot illuminates their lives as well as that of their subject. Kenan is a sick man whose days are numbered. He has lost his only son, and the woman he lived with committed suicide after being diagnosed with cancer. Her provocative daughter Ornalia, an avant-garde artist, blames Kenan for her mother`s death but becomes friendly with Tania. In the course of the investigation, Tania leaves her husband and has an affair with a much younger man, but her lover ultimately prefers young Ornalia.

Kenan and Tania talk to people who knew Efrati; they collect documents and read the letters and poetry he wrote in his youth, yet none of these explain the riddle of the man. However, fascinating facts come to light, such as Efrati`s link to the Australian millionaire, who survived Auschwitz, murdered an innocent German and was subsequently caught. Back then, Efrati helped him escape to pre-state Israel, after which the man emigrated to Australia and made a fortune. But this millionaire lives to regret the decision he made to commemorate his rescuer.