The Abomination

When the analysis departments of the CIA, Germany's BND and Britain's MI5 and MI6 began noticing fragmentary and vague references to an unspecified major Islamist terrorist attack, information analysts around the world were put on high alert, trying to piece together the cryptic chatter in an attempt to determine the nature and planned target of the terrorist attack. It was, however, a Cambridge university professor specializing in religious diversity and jihadist law who was able to draw the threads together, revealing a planned nuclear detonation on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by a terrorist group known as the Islamic Jihad Union. It then falls to Mossad and to the Israeli domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet, to find the nuclear device before it can be reassembled and detonated, and to hunt down the leaders of IJU. One of the most sought-after men is the head of IJU and its financier - a shadowy figure known only by the pseudonym he uses, 'The Teacher'. Mossad's Chief of Special Ops, Reuben Stern, leads a small team hunting down The Teacher and his trusted lieutenant, Sjarif bin Hammadi, while Benjamin Rosen, the Director of Shin Bet, manages the search within Israel for IJU operatives and for the nuclear device. Both men knew that failure on their part would lead to the State of Israel being erased from the map.

"So, this will be the final act?" Khalil asked. "It will force Israel into accepting a two-state solution?"

The old man smiled and sat back in his chair as la serveuse delivered their coffee, along with desserts which he had ordered without consulting his guest.

When la serveuse had departed, the grandfatherly figure leaned across the table and said quietly, "Khalil, a two-state solution is the last thing I want. I am working toward a one-state solution, the state of Palestine - from the river to the sea. And when that happens, when the use of our device brings about the total annihilation of the state of Israel, the world will not care. The West will no longer need to vacillate on the question as to what extent they will support Israel. They will be relieved Israel no longer exists and that they no longer must deal with what they call 'The Middle East Problem', especially when it is made clear to them that it is the fulfilment of prophecy from their own holy scriptures. It's beautiful!"