The warning that the Houthis have a longstanding ‘open account’ to settle with Israel, reflected in the terse Hebrew phrase ‘רק מניח על השולחן… לחות’ים יש “חשבון פתוח” לסגור איתנו,’ is not just an allusion to immediate military threats, but a potent reminder of the wider regional struggle facing Israel and, by extension, Western democracies confronting a persistent Iranian-backed terror network. Situated at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, the Houthis—formally known as Ansar Allah—have transformed from a local insurgent group into one of Tehran’s most formidable regional proxies, challenging the security architecture that has underpinned the Middle East since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent rise of nation-states. Their enduring antagonism toward Israel, and their repeated missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the Iron Swords War on October 7, 2023, highlight the axis of resistance strategy engineered in Tehran and executed with ruthless intent from Yemen to Lebanon and beyond.
The contemporary threat from the Houthis is inseparable from their connection to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which provides training, advanced weapons systems, funding, and ideological guidance. The Houthis’ open claim of animosity toward Israel, underscored by repeated public threats and operational attacks against Israeli interests—including missile strikes aimed at Eilat and maritime attacks in the Red Sea—fits squarely within the IRGC’s broader mission to orchestrate a multi-front war against Israel and disrupt Western interests throughout the region. Official statements from Israeli defense authorities regularly note Iranian fingerprints on Houthi operations. The targeting of commercial shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the launching of cruise missiles and armed drones towards Israeli territory, and explicit threats timed with Hezbollah or other Iranian-backed militias’ escalations, all indicate a coordinated strategy rather than isolated incidents. The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has publicly detailed such attacks and attributed them to Iranian orchestration, stressing that they present not just a challenge to Israel but a direct threat to global commerce and maritime security, with repercussions for every economy reliant on Red Sea shipping lanes (US CENTCOM press releases, 2023-2024).
From a historical perspective, the Houthis’ animosity toward Israel is neither new nor isolated. Yemen’s relationship with Jews—who once had a sizable community in the country—has been shaped by centuries of intermittent tolerance and exclusion, culminating in mass expulsions and forced conversions during various periods of turmoil. In the 20th century, Jews fleeing Yemen largely resettled in Israel, further ingraining anti-Israel sentiment among both ruling elites and insurgent movements. The 21st century rise of the “Axis of Resistance” marked a new chapter: the Houthis are now not simply opposed to Israel as a distant ideological enemy, but as an actively engaged belligerent, eager to prove their strategic relevance to both their Iranian sponsors and their domestic audience. Their repeated declarations that their war is with ‘Zionists and Americans’ echoes narratives perpetuated by Hezbollah in Lebanon and the IRGC in Tehran.
The Iron Swords War, unleashed by the October 7, 2023 massacre perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians—the deadliest antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust—served as both a signal and a rallying cry for the region’s Iranian proxies. According to verified Israeli government and military sources, the massacre saw more than 1,200 Israelis murdered and over 250 kidnapped from their homes, communities, and a music festival—acts accompanied by documented evidence of executions, sexual violence, mutilation, and abductions (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing, October 2023). This systematic campaign of terror and war crimes, designed to shatter Israeli society and destabilize the entire region, catalyzed a new phase of open hostilities. Within days, Houthi missile and drone launches intensified, targeting Israeli territory and commercial vessels believed to have links to Israel or its allies. The group’s official statements, disseminated by their spokesman Yahya Saree, referenced a direct duty to avenge the ‘crimes in Gaza,’ conflating their local aims with the ideological and strategic direction set in Tehran.
Military experts in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly stressed that Houthi capabilities cannot be underestimated. Their rapid acquisition of advanced technology—ballistic missiles with ranges exceeding 1,500 kilometers, anti-ship cruise missiles, and weaponized drones—marks a significant leap from the insurgency that began in the mountains of northern Yemen in the early 2000s. US and UN investigations have traced components of Houthi missiles and drones back to Iranian manufacturers, while intercepted shipments in the Arabian Sea have confirmed an active smuggling route from Iran to Yemen, facilitating the group’s ongoing militarization. This development has forced Israel and its partners to dramatically expand their surveillance and air defense footprint, including the deployment of Iron Dome and Arrow missile batteries as far south as Eilat, and the activation of joint US-led maritime security operations under Operation Prosperity Guardian.
The regional implications of unchecked Houthi aggression are profound. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a chokepoint for over 10 percent of global maritime trade, linking the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. Disruption here—whether by mining, missile attacks, or piracy—ripples through global supply chains, impacting energy markets, food imports, and manufacturing costs worldwide. The Houthis’ repeated attacks on commercial shipping, including vessels flagged to US, British, Japanese, and EU ownership, have prompted international condemnation and triggered emergency rerouting of ships, with some companies opting for the longer and more costly route around the Cape of Good Hope. The economic toll for Western nations—coupled with the mounting insurance premiums and security costs—has made the Red Sea instability a pressing issue for global leaders, as evidenced by emergency meetings at NATO, the G7, and the United Nations Security Council in 2024 (International Maritime Organization, security bulletins, 2023-2024).
The ideological alignment of the Houthis with Iran’s anti-Western and antisemitic agenda further illuminates the risk that the group’s military actions will inspire or coordinate with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militias in Iraq, and other affiliates in Syria. Israeli intelligence assessments, confirmed by American and European security partners, indicate that the Houthis receive not only tactical guidance but operational intelligence from the IRGC, some of which is gathered by Iranian surveillance vessels in the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean. These same sources further corroborate that missile launch times frequently coincide with significant regional escalations—such as Israeli precision strikes in Syria, retaliatory bombings against Hezbollah, or political milestones involving US or EU diplomatic initiatives in the region. This evidence points to a war of synchronization, in which the Houthis represent only one spoke in a wider confrontation orchestrated by Iran, designed to wear down Israel’s deterrence while complicating military and political planning for Jerusalem and its Western allies.
Against this backdrop, Israel’s response to Houthi provocations has been calibrated but unequivocal. Senior officials—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and current Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir—have repeatedly affirmed Israel’s right and readiness to defend its territory, commercial interests, and citizens by all necessary means. In press briefings and parliamentary sessions, Israeli leaders have emphasized that a direct Houthi strike on Israeli soil or a mass-casualty maritime attack would trigger not only Israeli reprisals but could escalate to a broader conflagration, drawing in international coalition partners. Military experts, both Israeli and foreign, highlight the importance of robust interception capabilities—combining the existing Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling systems with US-made Aegis warships and international intelligence cooperation. Yet, they remain cautious that even the most advanced air defenses face saturation risk from massed assaults, necessitating continued investments in both active and passive defense and the ongoing modernization of Israel’s multi-layered counter-missile architecture (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, security briefings, 2023-2024).
The wider Western response to Houthi escalations has also evolved. The United States, under the leadership of President Donald Trump and subsequent administrations, has designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization at various intervals, imposed targeted sanctions on their leadership, and coordinated joint maritime security operations with Britain, France, and regional partners, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Official statements from the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, operating out of Bahrain, underscore both the tactical successes in intercepting missile and drone attacks and the persistent dangers posed by Houthi innovation and Iranian technical support. These efforts, though critically important, are only part of a broader Western agenda to protect freedom of navigation, uphold the rules-based international order, and counter the spread of Iranian influence—objectives that align directly with Israel’s security interests.
Notably, the latest phase of conflict is not defined solely by military exchanges but by a battle for legitimacy in the international arena. Iranian-backed narratives, disseminated through global media and advocacy networks, often seek to obscure the nature of Houthi violence by framing it as resistance to Western or Israeli ‘aggression.’ Countering this misinformation is a core task for Western policymakers, diplomats, and journalists. The documented targeting of civilian shipping, the use of banned weapons, and repeated threats to expand attacks beyond the Red Sea all serve to reinforce the designation of the Houthis as a terror group—a clear distinction under international law and reinforced by the coalition of democratic nations confronting their actions (UNSC resolutions, US and UK government statements, 2023-2024).
The humanitarian dimension, though often exploited by terrorist groups as a tool for propaganda and leverage, is also an essential concern for Western policymakers and Israeli leaders. Yemen remains one of the world’s most devastated humanitarian theaters, with millions at risk of famine, disease, and displacement—conditions for which the Houthis, after nearly a decade of usurping Yemen’s central institutions and diverting humanitarian aid, bear direct responsibility. This crisis has not diminished the group’s appetite for military confrontation but has instead fueled cycles of radicalization, with international aid often seized and repurposed for the war effort according to findings by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen and corroborated by independent non-governmental organizations. Western responses must therefore balance an uncompromising approach to terror with ongoing efforts to reach the Yemeni civilian population—efforts systematically undermined by Houthi policy.
In the longer term, the implications for global security are stark. The persistent threat posed by the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militias in Iraq, and affiliated groups in Syria and Gaza—coordinated by Iran—comprises a single regional conflict theater presenting challenges on a scale not seen since the Cold War. For Israel, the imperative is existential: defend its territory, safeguard its population, and uphold the moral and legal principles at the heart of its democracy. For Western nations, Israel’s battle is emblematic of the wider struggle for a secure, stable, and free international order—in which terror groups cannot dictate the terms of regional security, undermine lawful governments, or threaten the infrastructure underpinning the global economy. As the Iron Swords War continues, and as the Houthis openly declare their continued enmity, the necessity of collective action rooted in shared democratic values, historical truth, and unwavering resolve has never been clearer. Such action, grounded in responsible reporting and vigilant defense, is the surest path to securing not just regional stability, but the safety and prosperity of the broader Western world.
