David said, "Haim, let's think about this. If we intercept the nuke before it reaches Iran, it would obviously be a great public relations victory. But what if we allow it to be unloaded on Iranian soil and then expose its presence and blame the Iranians for blatantly breaking the Nuclear Deal. Surely, this would be the proverbial 'smoking gun' our Prime Minister is so keen on providing the world with. This will provide further justification to the American President's one-sided withdrawal from the Nuclear Deal."
"Sure, but what if they manage to sneak it away before we can prove its existence? This is taking a big risk because we cannot operate freely on Iranian soil."
"Perhaps we can get the Russians to do the honors? They owe us big-time for foiling the plot to blow up St. Petersburg, with or without President Putin."
"David, are you familiar with the French saying, 'trust a snake before a Jew, a Jew before a Greek, but never trust an Armenian'? Well, nowadays the American President has tweeted a modified version, 'trust a snake before a Jew, a Jew before an Armenian, but never trust a Russian'. We cannot rely on them to acknowledge their debt to you and certainly not to honor it by reciprocating. I know all about our PM's obsession with the Nuclear Deal and his desperate need for a 'smoking gun', but I cannot condone taking the risk of delivering a nuke to Iranian hands."
"So, boss, how to we proceed?"
"David, Israel has seized control of ships on the high-seas quite a few times. These were usually small ships delivering weapons to Hamas in Gaza or trying to smuggle weapons across the Sinai Peninsula. None of these operations were carried out against large vessels, crisscrossing the sea in the established routes of international trade. In any case, we still need precise information on the ship on which the nuke is loaded, and details of the specific container in which it is concealed."
As they were speaking, there was a knock on the door. Haim called "Come in" and his adjutant entered with a note and handed it to the Mossad Chief. Haim glanced at it, nodded to the adjutant who left the room. Haim handed the note to David.
David read it and said, "Haim, it looks as if someone is bugging your office. This is the detailed information we need. Where did it come from?"
Shimony pointed to the header of the memo, "One of our special operations units has just downloaded all the information from the laptop of the head of the Iranian nuclear administration while he was attending a conference in Vienna."
David, always suspicious of Greeks bearing gifts, wondered if this wasn't an Iranian version of the legendary wooden horse of Troy, "Are you sure the Iranians are not signaling that they don't want this nuke and want us to take it off their hands?"
Shimony shrugged, "Perhaps the Gods are smiling at us? Rewards for the righteous? In any case, I must get the PM's permission to carry out a raid on a ship sailing the high-seas."
"I am afraid that his obsession to prevent the Iranians from obtaining a nuke, at any cost, will cloud his thinking. He'll opt for a spectacular operation and short-term gain and not consider the long-term implications. The Iranians will have plausible deniability if we seize this nuke anywhere outside their borders."
"I'll present the Prime Minister with your point of view. Better yet, why don't you join me when I go to brief him?"
David had met the PM on several occasions and appreciated the man's intelligence but knew that the man was first and foremost a brilliant politician who had more than a streak of paranoia. David suspected that the PM's top priority was, as always, to do things that would keep him in power. Then a new thought occurred to David, "Haim, I am curious about the reason for Karim's demise. We know that he earned the hero's welcome as a reward for stealing the nuke. What happened at his meeting with the Supreme Leader? Why was he executed?"
Haim Shimony considered this, "Perhaps the Supreme Leader thought that this nuke was more of a burden than an asset, just as you have pointed out."
David said, "Are you sure that you still want me to join you when you meet the PM? My opinion could cost you your career…"
Shimony replied, "We both know that he has been looking for an excuse to replace me with one of his cronies. I'd rather be fired for opposing him on a real matter of national security, like this, than over some minor disagreement."
"Don't you think that you should first present all the facts to the other heads of the intelligence community?" David was thinking about the Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, and the IDF's head of the Intelligence Directorate, as well as the Head of the Israel Security Agency.
Shimony, also an astute political operator, "A secret meeting with them could be interpreted as a rebellious act against the legally elected government of Israel. David, I'll have to present them with the facts and suspicions about this Iranian nuke at the same meeting with the PM and rely on their good judgment and experience, as well as on their integrity and courage to make proposals that are not popular with the PM."
What began as another routine meeting of the heads of the Israeli intelligence community with the PM and the cabinet, soon turned into an ugly dispute. The Minister of Defense joined the representatives of the intelligence community in opposing the PM's demand for a unanimous decision to intercept the ship with the nuke before it reached Iran. The PM could override the opposition with the help of some of the cabinet members who understood politics better than they did issues of national security but knew that this could turn into a political fiasco in case the military operation got bogged down. Shimony provided the PM with a solution. "Mister Prime Minister, we could leak the information about the nuke's route to the Americans. Their President would surely be glad to find support for his decision to terminate the Nuclear Deal. With proper guidance by you, he can be convinced to send a few cruise missiles to the Iranian port in which the nuke will be downloaded. Thus, there will be proof that there was an illegal nuclear device on Iranian soil and that they have reneged on the Nuclear Deal. This will give him the excuse to demand the other countries that signed the Nuclear Deal to impose additional restrictions on the Iranians, like demanding that they cease the development of missiles and withdraw their troops and 'volunteers' from all foreign countries."
The PM considered this, "There is a risk that the cruise-missiles will miss the target or that the timing of the attack would be off. But I like the idea. I'll immediately call my good friend in the White House and see his response. Take a break while I speak to him."
The PM excused himself and left the cabinet meeting. POTUS accepted his call and the two politicians discussed the issue. As usual, the attention span of POTUS was short, so after a few minutes he concluded the discussion, "Mister Prime Minister, you have shown me another way to make America great again."
The PM returned to the cabinet meeting, "It is out of our hands now. Thank you all for attending." As they were leaving the room, he said, "Shimony, please stay for a moment." When the two men were alone he said, "If you pull a trick like this one more time then you can seek a new job. And, be sure to take this Avivi guy with you."
Epilogue
The Supreme Leader received a recording of the telephone conversation between POTUS and the Israeli PM thanks to the Russian network of spies in the White House. He called the Head of the IRG and played the recording. They discussed their options and arrived at the only viable solution.
A mysterious accident breached a huge hole below the water line of a cargo ship that was sailing up the Persian Gulf. Within minutes, it sunk to the bottom of the sea. All personnel and cargo were lost.