What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Brendan is still looking for this book:

"Israel defeated and occupied,,,, thriller from 1980s

I'm looking for a thriller from the mid-1980s that is about the defeat of Israel. The book begins with refugees on a beach at Tel Aviv, seeing buildings burning behind them, wondering why America isn't coming to their aid.

The novel's main character manages to swim out to a rescue boat. He has a plan to get revenge against the Arab world. He tries to meet up with the Israeli government-in-exile, a set of trailers in Vermont with no success.

As the book progresses, the main character decides to raise a child and turn him into the Mahdi... but his plot goes awry...

Thanks"

OP (original poster) account is deleted. Moving thread to the "Now we'll never know" folder.