Yemen Monitor / Sana’a / Special Report:
A Hebrew-language newspaper stated that Israeli attacks on Yemen only serve to strengthen the armed Houthi movement.
In a column by retired Israeli army brigadier general Shmuel Elmas, published in the financial daily Globes, he wrote: “Israeli intelligence is operating under the false notion that the Houthis care about the economic well-being of the population under their control.”
The retired general claimed that the Friday attack on the ports of Hudaidah and Al-Salif, located 2,000 kilometers from Israeli territory, was “impressive” and that no other force in the Middle East is capable of carrying out such operations routinely. “However—and this is a big ‘however’—every attack in Yemen strengthens the Houthis rather than weakens them.”
He mocked Israel’s threat to impose a “naval blockade” on Iran’s proxies in Yemen, saying it “reveals the ignorance of Israeli intelligence about the poorest country in the Arab world. It’s the same ignorance that leads senior officials in Jerusalem to believe that bombing concrete factories in Yemen will hurt the Houthis.”
“Iran supplies them with weapons, money, and other necessities through Oman and areas controlled by the Yemeni government. The belief that cutting off one supply route will harm the Houthis stems not only from intelligence ignorance but also from a completely misguided Western concept that economic damage will push a regime to change its behavior.”
The newspaper stated that the Houthis do not care about the welfare of their citizens and therefore have nothing to lose. Destroying infrastructure will not compel them to surrender.
The article concluded with the claim that the only way to confront the Houthi threat is to end the war in Gaza and strike at the head of the snake—Iran. The author added: “The only way to choke Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni movement, is a direct attack on the Ayatollah regime, which stands to lose a great deal.”
