This week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was handed unrestricted authority to rule his nation by decree. Venezuela's new parliament passed, and Chavez signed, the "Enabling Act" and put an end to any hopes of a democratic end to his rule.

Chavez is expected to exercise the absolute power granted him to nationalize all private oil and gas operations now operating in his territory.

Chavez also has plans to take state control of Venezuela's biggest telecommunications company and electricity providers, to revamp banking and zap the rich with new taxes with a goal of ensuring ''the equal distribution of wealth."

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In short, Chavez is assuming the role of America's new Castro, but Venezuela is no Cuba. Cuba cost America some banana and sugar plantations and the very rich had to find someplace else to gamble, but by and large, Castro hurt Cuba a lot more than he hurt the United States.

Chavez is what Castro would have been if he had been sitting on one of the richest oil fields in the world: an enemy too dangerous to live with, and too expensive for us to live without.

Venezuela is America's fifth largest supplier of oil. And Chavez owns (or will soon own) all the oil companies.

Making the situation even more dangerous is Chavez's close alliance with Iran. Iran has sworn to wipe Israel from the map publicly, and on more than one occasion. Ahmadinejad recently sponsored a conference entitled, "A World Without Zionism" and subtitled, "A World Without America."

Iran is protected by its chief nuclear suppliers in Russia, complicating the situation even more. Moscow has hundreds of billions of dollars invested in Iran's nuclear programs. Iran's nuclear facilities are crawling with Russian scientists, advisers, technicians, security personnel – and their families.

The U.S. can't afford to move against Chavez without risking conflict with Iran – which ultimately risks dragging in the Russians. Chavez, on the other hand, can easily afford to wreak havoc on America's oil supply – and its economy – without fear of economic repercussion.

The prophet Ezekiel predicted the development of a vast alliance that would include Russia, Persia (Iran) "and many people with thee" in the last days that would launch a surprise invasion of Israel.

So how does Israel fit into all this? A Texas oil company, Genco, recently announced the discovery of a large oil field near the Dead Sea. Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer called the strike "just the beginning."

British Natural Gas announced the discovery of a vast natural gas deposit 20 miles offshore of Tel Aviv. Initial estimates suggest some 3.5 trillion cubic feet in proved reserves.

Zion Oil has sunk eight exploratory wells, all of which have shown signs of oil and gas. Zion founder John Brown believes the amount of oil reserves hidden beneath Israel could rival that of Saudi Arabia.

A massive oil strike in Israel would completely change the balance of power in the Middle East. Such an oil- strike could potentially break the back of OPEC. It is unlikely OPEC would admit Israel as a member, regardless of how much oil she had.

That would seem to leave but one option, best expressed by my friend Joel Rosenberg's novel of the same name.

The Ezekiel Option.

Get Hal's "Planet Earth: The Final Chapter"

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