"Offering His Services": Netanyahu's Proposal to the Gulf States Against the Houthis

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed willingness to join a broad campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. Israel is monitoring the Houthis' advance in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the IDF has practiced a scenario of a Houthi infiltration into Eilat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed willingness to join a broad campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. The report, citing American diplomatic sources, claims that Netanyahu is "offering his services" to the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. This comes against the backdrop of the Houthis' advance in western Yemen and their takeover of the port city of Al-Mukha, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Israel fears that the Houthi takeover of the port will allow them to expand pressure on oil tankers and commercial ships, and disrupt shipping routes to the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the IDF completed a large divisional exercise in and around Eilat, which practiced a scenario of a massive infiltration into the city by sea, air, and land by Houthi fighters and pro-Iranian militias. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, and the Commander of the Navy, Major General Eyal Harel, addressed the threat and said they would not allow the establishment of existential threats.