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IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL on 19 December, 2024
White House Too ‘Timid’ to Confront Houthis, Say Experts as Israel Strikes Yemen
Jerusalem, 19 December, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- As Israel struck Houthi positions in Yemen on Thursday morning, experts said a US-led coalition of forces deployed to protect Red Sea shipping was “too timid” to deter the Iran-backed terror group.
“From the beginning of the war with Hamas, the United States was quite fearful of a regional war. They didn’t want Iran to be directly involved and getting the entire Gulf in flames,” Professor Eytan Gilboa, who teaches political science and communications at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, told The Press Service of Israel. “This explains the timid US approach to Yemen, to the Houthis.”
Gilboa added that the White House also feared a major attack on Yemen would complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.
But “Despite the American pressure not to use force against the Houthis, Israel could no longer tolerate that,” he said, noting that the terror group has launched around 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel.
A US-led international coalition of naval forces to protect Red Sea shipping did not deter the Houthis from continuing their attacks on maritime traffic. According to Prof. Eyal Zisser, a vice-rector of Tel Aviv University and a senior research fellow at Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Western strikes were too limited.
“With such an enemy, if you attack once every month or two months a target, well, this is not too impressive,” Zisser told TPS-IL. “If you attack on a daily basis, this is something else, but this is not what happened.”
According to Zisser, the Biden administration “thought they might do something with the power they had, but on the other hand they didn’t want to get involved.” In the end, the result was what he called “making signals.”
Said Zisser, “It’s the appearance that they do something, but practically, it’s not real.”
Gilboa said another reason the US failed to deter the Houthis was because the White House didn’t pressure Egypt or the Gulf States to take stronger action.
“There is much hostility toward Israel in Egyptian public opinion, and the leadership didn’t want to be seen as operating against the Houthis who are sympathizing and helping Hamas in Gaza. That’s it, even though this threatens Egypt’s own economic interest in the Suez Canal,” Gilboa explained.
“Israel was left alone. You know, undermining shipping in the Red Sea has not been just an Israeli matter. It was an international matter,” he added.
Gilboa and Zisser agreed that the defeats of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the overthrow of the Syrian government makes it easier for Israel to turn its attention to the Houthis, but both added that the Biden administration’s calculus won’t change.
“One of the first actions the Biden administration did four years ago was to remove them from the least of countries supporting terrorism. This was stupid,” said Gilboa. “So I think that [President-elect Donald] Trump would either allow more forceful use of American power or give Israel a free hand.”
Both also agreed that Israel’s attacks on the Houthis would increase the likelihood of normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi needs a strong ally. And I think that what happened in recent weeks in the Middle East has substantially increased Israel deterrence,” Gilboa said.
But Zisser added that strikes on the Houthis are “helpful” on that front, but are not Riyadh’s primary consideration. The main factor, he said “is the position of the United States, what the United States gives the Saudis, and how you deal with the Palestinian question.”
The Houthis vowed in early December to target any Israel-bound ship in the Red Sea, regardless of its ownership. They have attacked or harassed around 100 ships, hijacked the MV Galaxy Leader in November 2023 and are holding its crew of 25 hostage.
From bases along the Yemeni coast, the Houthis have threatened ships in the Red Sea as they traverse the Bab el-Mandeb Straits, a narrow maritime choke point between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. The majority of the world’s oil passes through the strait from the Indian Ocean towards the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
