“Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory to Islam!”
There is no need for elaborate interpretation to understand the Houthis’ intentions. In this case, the message is written plainly on their flag. That ideological declaration captures the defining features of the Shi’ite movement that has controlled large parts of Yemen since 2014: religious extremism, regional expansionism, and a deep-seated hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.
For years, the West—and Israel, in particular—paid relatively little attention to the movement. Yemen was widely seen as fragile, remote and strategically marginal, located roughly 1,500 kilometers from Israel.
Then came November 2023, when the Houthis launched a campaign to disrupt freedom of navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response to the war in Gaza. Commercial traffic through one of the world’s most important shipping routes fell by roughly half. Houthi missiles and drones subsequently reached Israeli territory, demonstrating both their military capabilities and their ability to inflict damage from considerable distance.
Intensive military operations by both Israel and the United States have failed to break Houthi resolve. Their military capabilities have been damaged and some of their leaders eliminated, but the movement has endured and demonstrated its regional reach and global disruptive capacity. Even sustained American military action has failed to compel this radical Shi’ite organization to halt its attacks.
The Houthis maintain a strategic and military relationship with Iran, but unlike Hezbollah steeped in Lebanon, they are not subordinate to Tehran. In many respects, the weakening of Iran’s military power and regional involvement has created an opportunity for the Houthis to position themselves as leaders of the regional “axis of resistance.”
The West, therefore, faces a dual challenge. If the Iranian regime survives in the coming years, then military support for the Houthis is likely to continue. If it does not, the Houthis possess significant indigenous weapons-production capabilities and an ambition to assume leadership of the axis, even without Iranian assistance.
Either way, the Houthi challenge is likely to intensify. The movement combines fanatical ideology, substantial military power and an adaptable, increasingly sophisticated arms industry. It has already made commercial maritime access to the Port of Eilat nearly impossible and retains the ability to launch attacks against Israel in response to developments anywhere in the Middle East.
Yet this may not be the only danger. The Houthis could assume a leading role in the anti-Israel axis and pursue their declared objectives independently, regardless of events in other arenas. Particularly troubling is a statement by the Houthi leader referring to “hundreds of thousands of our people who will go to Palestine to participate in the holy jihad against the Zionist enemy.”
After Oct. 7, Israel cannot afford to dismiss an enemy that openly declares its ambition to destroy the Jewish state, particularly when that enemy has already demonstrated an ability to surprise.
There is, however, much that can be done.
Israel must establish a clear and credible deterrence posture under which the Houthis pay a heavy price for every attack on Israeli territory or Israeli-linked shipping. At the same time, the shared threat creates an opportunity to deepen cooperation with Gulf states. Such cooperation should support a sustained campaign to weaken Houthi military capabilities, systematically target their military leadership and, where feasible, strengthen local forces capable of challenging their rule.
The international community must also reform the delivery and monitoring of civilian assistance to Yemen, protecting aid to vulnerable populations while preventing its diversion to sustain Houthi rule or military activity. These efforts should be accompanied by political, economic and information measures aimed at weakening the Houthis’ grip on power.
The Houthis are not currently Israel’s primary threat. Israel must remain focused on more urgent challenges in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza. The failure of Oct. 7 nevertheless requires Israel to look beyond the immediate horizon, particularly when the emerging danger is already clear.
There are no vacuums in the Middle East. When one extremist force weakens, another often rises to take its place. Israel must begin preparing now for this possible shift, while using the shared Houthi threat to deepen strategic cooperation with the Gulf states.
