The Illuminati (33 page)

The confrontation, which almost erupted into global war between the United States and China over the use of Israeli nuclear weapons, was stopped when the U.S. and Russia moved three separate carrier groups into the Gulf and threatened to use them against Israel if any more nuclear weapons were used.

By then the devastation of the Arab forces was massive. Iran's oil fields had been contaminated by surface-level fallout and its army annihilated. Israel agreed to the peace terms and also agreed to cease their slant drilling under the Arab countries, which they did—for nearly two years. But as the reserves they had stored began to wane, the Israelis covertly broke their agreement.

What the rest of the world didn't know was that the drilling operation by Israel had been successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams. The longest slant well in the world had tapped into the subterranean pool beneath Saudi Arabia nearly three years earlier. Six additional wells had been sunk immediately, and the pumping operation had begun in earnest.

At first, the Israeli geologists thought they had tapped a new pool of oil because pressures in the existing Saudi wells had not dropped. But instead they made an amazing discovery; the pool they had tapped was actually the sump for much of the oil under the desert lands. Simply put, the more they pumped out of the ground and into the storage domes, the more oil flowed into the crevasse feeding the wells. In essence, they were draining the Middle East of most of its available oil, and the Arabs didn't even know it.

Later, as the pressures in the Saudi wells began to decline, they called in American geologists to investigate. The conclusion was that the Middle East oil supplies were running out faster than anyone had estimated. At the rate of depletion shown by the pressure drop, it was estimated that Saudi oil supplies would be exhausted in less than a decade. This news sent tremors through the industrialized world, especially Japan, which was totally dependent on foreign oil supplies. Prices shot up to one hundred and fifty dollars a barrel within a few weeks. Even the Japanese economy was having a difficult time digesting the large increases. The Japanese quietly signed an exclusive agreement with the Saudis to buy all their exported oil in exchange for the new desalinization process the Japanese had designed to convert sea water into fresh water economically. The Saudis knew they had to use their waning resources to develop new technologies. Food was the commodity they chose. They would make the desert bloom, just as Israel was doing.

After a much-heated debate in the office of Jacob Estine, the Israeli prime minister, the decision was made to bring all six main pumps on line to serve the slant wells. Defense Minister Levi Klein strongly objected: “If we pump all the oil too quickly, we will bring the wrath of the world down on us,” he explained for the fourth time.
Why can't these religious zealots see what they are doing?
he wondered.
If they push the Asians too far, they will fight. And fighting the Japanese and Chinese won't be like fighting the Arabs
.

The Chinese had become a formidable force under the mutual alliance pact with the Japanese and Koreans, known as the Asian Triangle. With two million men under arms and nuclear capability, they would not hesitate to protect their fragile economy, or that of their financiers, the Japanese.

“We simply cannot allow the Saudis to develop their land,” Moshi Amitt, leader of the Knesset, said flatly. “We are the exporters of food to the Arab world now. If we lose that edge, we will be in constant danger again. We will drain the oil reserves and sell them to the Japanese so they won't buy them directly from the Saudis. We will strip the Arabs of their wealth. God is with us.”

“If you do this, the Japanese will have the Chinese march on Israel. I beg you to reconsider this madness,” Levi Klein pleaded to the Cabinet.

“You will defend Israel just as your brothers did before you,” Amitt railed. “We cannot fail. God is on our side.”

“Perhaps, my brother,” the prime minister said wearily. “It will take God to win this war, if it comes to that. Our people do not have the same fervor for fighting they had when we were surrounded by enemies. We rule the Arab nations through the use of food now, rather than force. I fear we have lost our edge.”

“We will stop these Asians from interfering in our lands just as we have the Arabs,” Amitt thundered, his robes billowing as he swept away his unseen enemies with a wave of his arms. Amitt had always secretly pictured himself as a modern Moses. His size, beard, and flowing robes were meant to convey that image to his peers who sat on the Knesset.

In the past, the Knesset had been comprised of both the majority and minority party members, and in principle it still was. But the Zealots, or Hebrew absolutists, had total control by their unification within both parties. Amitt was their leader.

“Besides,” he continued, “the Americans will never allow the Chinese to threaten Israel. There are many Jews still living in America.”

“America has troubles of its own,” Klein argued. “Their country is like a war zone. I do not believe they will defend Israel, at least not under these circumstances.”

“If you cannot, or will not, defend your country, we will find someone who can,”Amitt said defiantly. “God has given our enemies into our hands. We must act now!”

“I will defend my country,” Klein said angrily. “I will even send my sons and daughters to fight, but this is still wrong. You sound like one of King Saul's advisers sending him into battle to die. What if you don't speak for the Lord?”

“But we do,”Amitt said proudly. “Did we not raise the money to drill the wells? And did we not rebuild the temple of Solomon just as God's Word said?”

Klein slumped back in his seat. He knew logic could not prevail.
I pray we are not facing seventy years of exile again
, he thought wearily.
Many brave men will die . . . and for what?

Within six months of the time the pumps were put on line, oil production in Saudi Arabia virtually ceased. With nearly half of all the available crude oil in the world safely locked away in their salt domes, the Israelis announced to the world that they controlled the crude oil market and would be taking bids on oil export—at five hundred dollars a barrel. Overnight the Japanese stock market plunged twenty thousand points. Japan was in the first stage of a total economic collapse.

An emergency summit was called in New York to discuss the situation. Leaders of all the Arab nations, as well as those from the Asian Triangle, were represented. Since the United States had threatened to veto any UN resolution against Israel, the summit was held at Camp David, without UN sanction.

“You must understand, Madam President, that Japan has the right to protect its interest in the Middle East,” Japanese economic minister Hurichi Amato said heatedly after Kathy Alton refused to agree to force Israel to surrender the oil it had diverted.

“Are you threatening us, Mr. Amato?” the president asked politely while glaring at the Japanese diplomat, who looked like a sumo wrestler.

“You may take it any way you wish, Madam President,” the irritated minister replied. He was not accustomed to addressing a woman politician, and he was even less comfortable debating with one.

“May I remind you, Mr. Amato, that any action taken against a sovereign nation, with whom we have a mutual defense agreement, will not be taken lightly by our people.”

Amato, not to be outdone, retorted, “I would suggest that you have enough trouble controlling the dissidents within your own borders. You will find that doing so across five thousand miles may not be to the liking of your citizens. Japan will not stand by and see our economy destroyed because of the theft of the Saudis' oil reserves.”

The lone representative from Israel, a young disciple of Moshi Amitt's, jumped up shouting: “The very land upon which they live belongs to Israel by divine right. We have every intention of controlling the resources if we desire. You will find Israel a formidable opponent for anyone foolish enough to attack her. God is on our side.”

The Japanese minister slammed his notebook closed and exited the room, with his staff close behind him.

“Excellent,” Razzak said to Jason Franklin as he watched on the closed-circuit monitor. “The stage is now set for war. Launch Phase Five immediately.”

Franklin shuddered as he thought about the consequences of what they were about to do.
This will be brinksmanship unlike any the world had every seen. One slip and the world will be left in cinders
.

Then, in his mind he clearly heard, “Yes, my timid subject. But if we win, I will rule mankind!” Franklin jumped as if he had been touched with a hot iron.
He had read my thoughts!

The Leader simply left the room smiling.
Humans are so simple
, he thought to himself.
Created in the image of God—indeed!

Within hours of the summit's abrupt ending, Israeli intelligence detected an alarming development.

“Prime Minister, our satellites have picked up massive troop deployments in China. And our contacts in America say the Japanese have diverted several hundred aircraft from the commercial airlines they have purchased.”

“How many aircraft have they diverted?” the ailing prime minister asked of his defense minister. He knew Levi Klein felt as he did about the threat to Israel, but the religious right was in control now. Amitt had convinced the people of Israel they were invincible. It was as if they thought God could only be on their side.

Klein thought fearfully of what Amitt had proposed at the last council meeting. His mind still would not allow him to believe it. “They have diverted at least five hundred aircraft from the fleet they operate out of America,” Klein reported. “President Alton is livid about this, since it has stranded millions of travelers, but there is nothing she can do. The Japanese have taken the official position that the diversion is due to the Olympic games.”

“Five hundred aircraft! How many troops can they move, and how quickly?”

“Intelligence says they are moving a million troops into Afghanistan as a staging area into Iraq. They also estimate another eight to nine million are being moved by land. It is possible that the Chinese could have ten million armed soldiers on Israel's borders by November!”With that, the defense minister showed Estine the satellite photos taken earlier that day. The whole area around Beijing seemed to be covered with soldiers for a hundred miles in every direction.

“My God!” Estine exclaimed as he viewed the photographs. “Is it possible to move that many men in such a short time?”

“Yes, sir, it is,” Klein replied wearily. “The Japanese are efficiency experts. They have equipped an army in China that may actually be ten times the number we see here. They have created a surrogate army to fight their battles. Since they have made no efforts to conceal their movements, we have to assume they are issuing a warning that we cannot ignore.”

“What does the Knesset say about this?” Estine asked as he tried to think clearly. “Ten million men! With ninety million in reserve! We wouldn't have enough bullets to shoot them all, even if we wanted to.”

“Amitt has suggested use of the doomsday bomb,” Klein said slowly and deliberately. “He is trying to convince the Knesset to launch a preemptive strike.”

“The doomsday bomb!” Estine shouted in astonishment. “We all agreed during the last war that the cobalt bomb could never be used. We have no idea what the effects will be.”

“I know,” Klein said as he replaced the photos. “But since we will be using it inside China they are apparently willing to experiment.” Then, after a slight pause, Klein stepped forward. “I would like to submit my resignation,” he stated as he handed the prime minister a handwritten document resigning his commission in the army, as well as his position as defense minister.

Looking over the document Estine replied, “You cannot quit, Levi. You're the single voice of sanity I have among a company of lunatics. I will not accept.”

“I'm afraid you have no choice, my good friend. I will not be a party to launching this weapon on the world. We are a nation because we wanted to escape the holocaust of the second World War. Now we're talking about killing ten times that many people, perhaps one hundred times as many! Will we be seen any differently than the Nazis?”

“I will call an immediate session of the Cabinet and the Knesset. At least wait until then, will you?”

“I will, out of respect for you, but I must tell you again, someone or something is directing this country on the road to destruction. And it is not the God of Abraham and Jacob.”