Israel has single-handedly incapacitated Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s proxies in Gaza and Lebanon respectively. There now remains but one significant cog in Iran’s jihadist machine—the vicious Houthis of Yemen.

Not only are the Houthis attacking Israel with missiles and drones on an almost daily basis, they’ve also, over the last year, crippled global shipping in the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. Who will stop them, and how long will it take?

Naturally, Israel has defended itself, as any country would. Predictably, Israel has been roundly condemned for doing so. Last week, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Israel’s recent strikes on Sanaa International Airport and other Houthi targets, “especially alarming.” Too bad no one at the UN expressed alarm when Houthi missiles struck a school and a playground in Israel.

In addition to their threat to the Jewish state, the Houthis have been attacking—and sinking—commercial ships traversing the straits of Bab el-Mandeb, costing the international shipping industry billions of dollars since November 2023.

Like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis seek a global Islamic caliphate, including the destruction of Israel and the U.S. Their motto is, “God (Allah) is the greatest and his curse will fall on all Jews. Death to America, death to Israel and total victory of Islam on all continents.” Iran has helped transform the Houthis from a gang of ragtag guerrillas to an organized military force with advanced weapons capable of attacking Israel and any ship entering the Red Sea.

Yet, bafflingly, the U.S. and other Western powers have been unwilling to take game-changing action against these Iran proxies. While Israel has counterattacked Houthi strongholds and infrastructure in Yemen numerous times—and the U.S. and UK have made several perfunctory strikes—the Houthis have persisted.

Israel, some 1,325 miles distant from Yemen, can marginally wear down the terrorists, but not shut them down. Only a determined effort by Western forces, with their world-class armaments and navies, can effectively stop the Houthis. So, what is the West waiting for?

The Houthis are the last remaining remnant of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.” Like Hamas and Hezbollah, they didn’t start out as a sophisticated military force. As Mohammed Albasha, a U.S.-based Middle East security analyst, explains, “In 2004, they were a besieged group hiding in the mountains. Now, they’re chasing U.S. carriers with drones and missiles and striking 2,000 kilometers away in central Israel.”

For nearly a decade, the Houthis have withstood a campaign led by Saudi Arabia aimed at removing them from power. Meanwhile, Iran and Hezbollah have helped turn the group into a technologically sophisticated force equipped with advanced missiles and drones that even Israel’s cutting-edge anti-missile defences have trouble intercepting.

The Houthis first attacked Israel shortly after the October 7^th massacre. Since then, they’ve launched hundreds of periodic drone and missile attacks on the Jewish state. Lately, however, Houthi attacks against Israel have been occurring almost daily. Most of the attacks result in minor injuries, though Houthi missiles could pose an existential threat to Israel in the future, should Iran develop nuclear warheads for them.

Israel has responded with several retaliatory strikes, but with its military resources already thinly stretched, Israel cannot launch a full-scale campaign against the Houthis similar to its campaigns against neighboring Hamas and Hezbollah. It needs help from its allies.

The Houthis are wreaking havoc on international commerce. Their attacks on international shipping began on Nov. 19, 2023, when they hijacked a British-owned vessel. The 25 crewmen are still hostages. Since then, the Houthis have launched over a hundred attacks against commercial ships and warships, sinking at least two vessels and killing four crewmen, while wounding others. They claim they’re targeting ships connected to Israel in support of Gaza, but according to U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett, they’re attacking ships with no connection to the Jewish state, even ships carrying humanitarian aid for Yemen.

Because of the Houthi attacks, Red Sea shipping has declined more than 50% over the past year. The cost to ship a container from China to the West Coast has more than doubled over the past year, due in part to Houthi attacks. According to JP Morgan, the Houthis’ disruption of international shipping could “add 0.7 percentage points to global core goods inflation.” In other words, consumers worldwide pay higher prices because of the Houthis’ belligerence.

The Houthi threat has been met with lackluster response by the U.S. and its allies. Indeed, the U.S. waited until last January to launch significant attacks on the Iranian proxy. On January 11^th and 12^th, U.S. and British forces, supported by the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain and Australia, launched strikes on 60 targets in Yemen, including radars, missile and drone launch sites, and weapons storage facilities.

Since then, however, the U.S. and its allies have launched only intermittent strikes against the Houthis that have proven ineffective. In fact, despite hundreds of American and allied strikes and the deployment of a U.S. Navy flotilla to the Red Sea, the Houthis have continued to attack commercial shipping and Israel.

A comprehensive, multinational strategy is needed to neutralize the Houthi threat. This strategy must involve a coalition of the U.S. and other Western powers, since only they have the military resources needed to incapacitate the Houthis. Likewise, as Israel proved against Hamas and Hezbollah, only will a full-scale military campaign against the Houthis—targeting their leaders, military capabilities and economic infrastructure—solve the problem.

Israel cannot and should not be expected to defeat the Houthis on its own. Despite its unprecedented success in decimating the strength of Iran and its other proxies, tiny Israel alone doesn’t have the military resources to inflict sufficient damage on the Houthis to safeguard global shipping. Yet, surely the U.S. and other Western powers, if determined, can deliver a message clear and crushing enough to secure the safety of international waters and Western allies from the terrorists.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that the Houthis are a global problem that requires a global solution. Only a coalition of Western nations can muster the weaponry sufficient to neutralize the Houthi threat definitively. But can they muster the commitment . . . can they muster the courage?

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,
Jason Shvili, Contributing Editor
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S. Too often, American citizens take comfort in their insulation from Islamist violence roiling the Middle East, as well as cities in Europe. But the jihadists are clear that fighting Jews and Israel is just the beginning. At rallies in Iran—and increasingly in the U.S.—the crowds scream, “Death to Israel, Death to America.” They understand that Israel is just the tip of the spear of Western Civilization—because Israel was the birthplace of so many Western values. Today the Jewish state stands as one of the strongest democracies in the world—a defender of liberty and enemy of oppressive Middle East dictatorships and terrorism. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of the Israel-U.S. relationship need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Israel’s War Is America’s War”—describes how Israel massively defends United States interests in the Middle East and how Israel represents a roadblock to Islamic expansion worldwide. Finally, it explains why the recent U.S. foreign policy of soft diplomacy and appeasement of Iran has failed consistently. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME intends to publish to millions—in leading social media, as well as in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Los Angeles Times. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, the President and Vice President. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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