35

“How come we’ve heard nothing directly from Prime Minister Eitan?”

It was the first time Vice President Hernandez had entered the conversation, Whitney noticed.

“I’m told the prime minister was in the process of placing the call here to the White House when the missile barrage began,” CIA director Stephens replied. “At that point, he told his aides to schedule a call for later and ordered his security cabinet to convene in emergency session. Apparently Eitan is going to call up the reserves. He’s already ordered air strikes against Hezbollah facilities all across Lebanon, including command-and-control centers in the Bekaa Valley. I’m told the security cabinet is even going to consider strikes as far north as Beirut. Eitan doesn’t want to do it, but he may not have any choice—he insists Israel can’t look weak in the face of such brazen and unprovoked attacks, or all of their deterrence in the region could begin to crumble.”

Whitney shook her head, not out of surprise or even disagreement but with the weight of the diplomatic catastrophe that was falling in her lap.

“Who is giving you this intel?” Hernandez asked.

“Mossad chief Asher Gilad,” replied Stephens. “Someone you know well.”

“I do,” said the VP. “Good man. We go back a long way, and I’ve always been able to trust him. So what do the Israelis need from us?”

“Several things,” the DCI noted. “First and foremost, Gilad is asking, for understandable reasons, that the names of the three prisoners not be released to the public. He also wants the Pentagon—or State—to leak that three Americans have been taken, not an Israeli. Would you be open to that, Mr. President?”

Clarke looked around the room. Hernandez nodded immediately. When the others followed, the president signaled his assent.

“Great—I’ll let them know,” said Stephens. “Next, the Israelis would be grateful for a strong public statement condemning Hezbollah for this unprovoked act of war and fully supportive of Israel’s moral responsibility to defend itself.”

“Absolutely—and I’ll call the Speaker and the Senate majority leader—we’ll get congressional resolutions condemning Hezbollah as well,” said Clarke. “What else?”

“Well, sir, Gilad said the prime minister is worried that a new war with Hezbollah—even one of self-defense—will scuttle the peace talks with the Saudis and set back all the progress Israel has been making with the Sunni Arab states, and especially the Gulf States, over the past several years. In fact, Gilad believes the orders for today’s attacks are coming directly from the regime in Tehran. He says they are certainly aimed at deflecting attention from the death of the ayatollah and what promises to be an intense and possibly messy bid among the leading contenders to replace the Supreme Leader. But they are almost just as certainly aimed at generating devastating anti-Israel coverage on Al-Sawt and other Arab TV networks and creating a tidal wave of rage against Israel throughout the Arab world and particularly in the kingdom.”

“He’s probably right,” Clarke said.

“He may very well be.”

“So what does he want?”

“Gilad said the prime minister would be exceedingly grateful if you would place an immediate call to King Faisal—along with a separate call to the crown prince—reminding them that we’re all in this fight against the Iranians together and asking them to refrain from any public statement that would suggest that they are critical of Israel’s response, much less thinking of backing away from the peace deal.”

“Done,” said Clarke, turning to his national security advisor. “Bill, get those calls set up immediately.”

McDermott nodded and picked up a receiver from the bank of phones in front of him.

Clarke now looked at Whitney. “Meg, obviously you’re not going to Israel tonight as planned,” he began.

“Apparently not, sir.”

“Go see the Saudis instead. Meet with the king and crown prince. Allay any of their concerns. Reinforce the message I’ll deliver by phone in a few minutes. In fact, I’ll want you listening in on that call.”

“Got it, sir—will do,” Whitney replied. “But perhaps I shouldn’t stop there.”

“What do you mean?”

“I should probably go see the Emiratis as well, and the Bahrainis—the Omanis, too. They’re all going to be edgy, especially with the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader and fears of more Iranian provocations as the hard-liners jockey to succeed the ayatollah.”

“She’s right, Mr. President,” the VP noted. “And I’d add in stops in Doha, Amman, and Cairo while you’re at it.”

“And the Moroccans on the way home,” said McDermott.

“Good, do it,” said the president, turning again to Whitney. “I want you to make it crystal clear that I see this as an act of war—not by Israel but by Iran—and that we hold Tehran fully responsible.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stress that we absolutely cannot let the mullahs in Tehran use this moment to divide us, as hard as they’ll try,” Clarke insisted. “Just the opposite. We need all of our allies to redouble their commitment to sticking together against the Iranian regime and to ratcheting up our campaign of maximum pressure.”

“I’m on it, sir,” Whitney assured him.

“And one more thing,” said the president.

“What’s that?”

“Tell every leader you talk to in the coming days—not just the Arabs but the Europeans and Asians as well—that for the sake of peace we all need to send Tehran a unified message,” Clarke said. “As Iran chooses a new leader, they must choose a new path.”