The Last Israelis - an Apocalyptic, Military Thriller about an Israeli Submarine and a Nuclear Iran by Noah Beck Read Free Book Online

he now remember seeing the same bald-headed Yisrael and recognize his face without the dark sunglasses?
    For a moment, Yisrael sought an immediate way out of the conversation but he quickly realized that his sudden exit could actually backfire and draw more attention to him by making the others think that he was snubbing Yoni for some reason. And based on Yoni’s initial reaction after the introduction to Yisrael, the deputy captain was hopeful that Yoni hadn’t actually noticed him at the political protest or at least didn’t recall him now without the sunglasses. More importantly, if Yoni did suddenly say that he vaguely recalls having seen Yisrael at the political protest, Yisrael wanted the opportunity to issue a convincing denial in front of everyone: “I realize that we bald guys tend to look the same, but you’re definitely confusing me with someone else. I’m not a political activist, I’ve never attended any rallies, and I’m actually in favor of building more settlements.”
    As Yisrael quietly prepared the best possible damage control strategy, Bao continued with his introduction. “Now Yoni is a really modest guy, especially when you consider his achievements, so I’ll have to tell you about them myself – even though he’s gonna protest.”
    “Please, Bao. That’s very kind of you but –”
    “See that?” Yoni smiled in resignation as Bao continued. “Basically, Yoni is a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and he’s going to cure cancer soon.”
    “I don’t know about cure, but I’m trying to –”
    “This stuff is way over my head, but he’s been using some computer model to figure out the genetic basis for cancer.”
    “It’s a model that simulates the molecular dynamics involved in certain types of cancer. Bao overstated the scope of the research a little. It’s really only about 65% of the cancers out there,” Yoni clarified.
    “Only 65%? What a slacker you are!” Bao stopped for a moment as everyone laughed. “And get this – he’s already developed some experimental drug therapies that look very promising.”
    “They worked well on rats and I’ve been approved to try them on terminally ill cancer patients who have volunteered for my study.”
    “Guys, don’t listen to all his hedging – you’re talking to a future Nobel Laureate. And if the patented drugs that he’s developing get approved, you’re probably also talking to the future richest person on the planet.”
    Everyone looked very impressed. “Are you giving out autographs yet?” Ambesah joked.
    “Don’t be silly. Guys like you keep this country safe so that guys like me can focus on things like cancer research. If anything, I should be getting your autographs.”
    “Yes, but the submarine force is kept so secret that very few people will ever even know who we are or what we do,” Yisrael noted, trying to participate in the conversation as if he had nothing to fear from it. “So our autographs are worthless…But you’re going to be a celebrity soon.”
    “Celebrity? I had to cancel my lecture series in the UK because some of the universities there decided to boycott all Israeli academics. How’s that for celebrity?”
    “What?!” Ambesah exclaimed.
    “Actually, I’m not surprised,” Yisrael said, seizing the conversational opportunity. “It makes sense that this could happen in the UK, given the well documented anti-Israel bias at the BBC.” The deputy captain reasoned that vocalizing his views would help him to deny, if necessary, that he is a protesting left-winger. Ironically and conveniently enough, his subterfuge overlapped with his true beliefs: Yisrael genuinely believed that the BBC, once his preferred news channel, had terribly unfair and inaccurate coverage of Israel.
    “What do you mean? How was the BBC’s bias documented?” Ambesah asked.
    “Thoroughly,” Yisrael replied. “Even the BBC Governors Report concluded that their coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict