Houthis threat to kill Netanyahu

The Houthis (Ansar Allah) are primarily a Yemeni movement with their base of power in northern part of the country. More recently, its main conflict has been with the United States and its allies, particularly because of Red Sea shipping disruptions.

After the killing of the prime minister of Yemen's Houthi-run government and several other ministers, Houthis have expressed their intentions to kill Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Can this be taken as a real threat to the life of Netanyahu?

In all the probability, the Houthis do not have the capability to directly target Netanyahu inside Israel. Their missile and drone reach has extended toward Israel during the Gaza war (some were intercepted by Israel, US, and allied forces), but striking the Israeli Prime Minister personally is far beyond their operational reach.

However, they can increase pressure on Israel by: 1) targeting Israeli linked ships and shipping lanes in the Red Sea, 2) launching long-range missiles or drones toward Israeli territory, and 3) deepening Israel’s regional isolation by linking the Gaza conflict with Yemen.

In reality, Netanyahu faces greater personal risk from inside Israel (domestic unrest, Palestinian militant groups) or from major regional actors (Hezbollah or Iran) rather than from the Houthis themselves.

While, it may be concluded that the Houthis are not a direct threat to Netanyahu, but they contribute to the overall regional security pressure on Israel that indirectly undermines his political standing and safety.

External threats to Netanyahu

Let us examine the structured hierarchy of external threats to Netanyahu’s life and political survival, ranked from most serious to least:

Hezbollah – Highest Direct Threat

The group has the capability, being the largest, most experienced armed group on Israel’s borders. It has tens of thousands of rockets, advanced drones, precision missiles. Its biggest advantage is proximity, right on Israel’s northern border. It may be said that the threat level to Netanyahu is very high – Hezbollah could, in theory, target Israeli leadership.

Iran – Indirect Threat

Iran enjoys capability, being the regional power with ballistic missiles, drones, cyber operations. While Iran may not directly target Netanyahu, it can facilitate proxies (Hezbollah, militias in Iraq/ Syria, and Houthis).

Palestinian Militants

Hamas, PIJ, and West Bank groups have the capability, having short-to-medium range rockets, cross-border raids, suicide missions. On top of all they enjoy proximity. Most of the resistance group consider Netanyahu directly responsible for Gaza destruction. Analysts believe it is difficult for them to reach him personally due to Israel’s heavy security.

Houthis (Yemen)

Houthis enjoy certain advantages like long-range drones and ballistic missiles, some have reached Israel’s southern airspace, others intercepted. Houthis position themselves as part of “Axis of Resistance” with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Target Israel-linked shipping and occasionally Israel itself. Their threat level is low, as they cannot realistically strike Netanyahu personally, but can harass Israel economically and militarily.

Other Regional Militias

Groups based in Iraq and Syria enjoy certain capabilities, rockets and drones, but usually confined to US or Israeli targets in Syria/ Iraq. Therefore, the real threat level to Netanyahu’s life may be low to moderate, but nuisance attacks are possible, though unlikely to reach Israeli leadership.

Yemen one of the key resistance in Gaza war

When Israel began its deadly attacks on Gaza, few thought that Yemen would become one of the key players in this war. The intervention of Ansar Allah of Yemen in the recent war is subject to several considerations and analyses.

One dimension of this intervention is economic. In fact, Ansar Allah has opened the third economic front against Israel.

The first front is related to Gaza. Tel Aviv has called up 360,000 reserve forces in attacking Gaza, and tens of thousands have also left southern Israel.

On the second front, Hezbollah's movements in northern Israel have also paralyzed the economy of this region.

The economic costs on these two fronts have been high for the regime. Official sources in Israel have admitted that the country's economy has shrunk by 15% in the last three months of the year.

The tourism industry has almost stopped, and retail has also declined significantly. The unemployment rate has reached about 10%, while in the month before October, this rate was less than 4%.

Ansar Allah started their economic war against the regime in the foreign trade field by opening the third front.

They began their work less than a month ago by seizing the Galaxy Leader. They recently announced that only Israeli ships will not be targeted, insisting all commercial ships that travel from Israeli ports to another country or vice versa will be seized or attacked.

In recent days, they have attacked several container ships in the Red Sea. The attacks have led to the closure of Eilat port, and commercial ships are forced to circumnavigate the whole of Africa to reach Israeli ports without any hassle, resulting in increased travel time and therefore higher transportation costs.

These attacks have not only increased insurance cost for the ships heading to Israel, but also burdened the already under-pressure Israeli economy.

The Red Sea corridor is vital for Israel's economy, and the continuation of the current situation will become increasingly difficult and expensive for it.

"National Security Council" has issued urgent instructions to Israel’s ports to remove information related to the arrival and departure of ships from their websites.

Another solution proposed by some Zionist experts is to transport goods to Port Said in Egypt and unload them there, then transfer them to smaller ships and transport them to Israeli ports. However, this solution is not practically feasible. In fact, they know that they have no practical and military options against Ansar Allah.

However, the most important hope for Israel is to try to turn their problem into everyone's problem. They are doing their best to pretend that Yemen's actions endanger international trade security in the Red Sea and thus force others to solve their problem.

Although the Americans are involved in this project with Israel, as the revolutionary authorities of Yemen have stated, no one can prevent them from supporting the oppressed people of Palestine.

They have clearly announced the solution: stop the massacre in Gaza and deliver food, medicine, and vital goods to the besieged people. 

Ansar Allah's confrontation with Israel is not limited to economic warfare, and despite the great distance from the occupied territories, they have conducted missile and drone attacks on Israel.

The courageous actions of the Yemenis have embarrassed some Islamic countries that have many pressure tools to stop Israel's killing machine but do not use them. 

All of this is happening while the Yemenis themselves have been facing war and severe siege for more than 8 years ‑ despite all these pressures, they are stronger than ever in regional equations.

Without a doubt, making the Red Sea insecure for the economy of the Israeli regime is not the Yemenis' last card in this game. Bigger surprises may be on the way that the Yemenis will reveal in due time.

Courtesy: The Tehran Times