Between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, another front is developing - and it may isolate Iran

Commentary on the emerging religious front between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis: Saudi Arabia is trying to frame the war as a struggle to protect Mecca and Medina, mobilizing the Muslim world against the Houthis and Iran. The Grand Mufti issued a sharp fatwa, and in Pakistan a collective fatwa was published defining the defense of the holy sites as a religious duty. The Houthis deny harming the holy cities.

Commentary by Dr. Yoel Guzansky, head of the regional arena at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), describing an additional front in the war between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen: the religious front. Saudi Arabia is trying to reframe the military campaign as a struggle to defend the holy sites of Islam – Mecca and Medina. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia issued an unusual fatwa calling on soldiers to sacrifice their lives and presenting the Houthis as a religiously deviant group. In Pakistan, religious scholars published a collective fatwa defining the defense of the two holy sites as a religious duty. The Houthis deny any intention to harm the holy cities. The Saudi move aims to isolate the Houthis and Iran in the broader Muslim arena, creating a pan-Islamic consensus instead of a sectarian struggle. The religious front is particularly important given the Saudi difficulty on the military front.