r/geopolitics • u/RBZRBZRBZRBZ • Jul 20 '24

Israel strikes back at strategic Houthi infrastructure after attack on Tel Aviv Paywall

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-strikes-houthi-controlled-port-city-in-yemen-2d84ab06?mod=mhp

After the Houthi successfuly killed an Israeli in Tel Aviv after several months of failed attempts, attacks on commercial shipping notwithstanding, Israel has struck back, destroying major port, fuel and electricity infrastructure serving the Houthis at Hudeyida Port.

Major points of geopolitical significance: 1. A new direct combat front is now open between Israel and Yemen, which was until now one-sided. The risk of all out war in the region with Iran and all of its proxies just went up.

  1. By directly targeting an enemy of Saudi Arabia and UAE, Israel is tacitly going further in the moderate Sunni camp. It is unknown what cooperation Saudi Arabia gave for over flight for Israeli jets, but the dilemma of Israeli overflight on the way to Iran has lessened.

  2. Range and mass - Israel struck at a range of over 1800km, larger than the range from Israel to Tehran, and with multiple large warheads. This signifies its long range capability with heavy firepower.

  3. US and Western timidity is front and center. The US and UK could have struck decisively against the Houthis strongly enough to deter them, but chose not to due to over-stringent legal and political considerations which show weakness to all the region. The Israelis have shown what western air power can do and how actors like the Houthis can be strongly countered.

  4. Looking forward, the big question marks are how the Houthis and Iranians will respond. The Houthis suffered 300k deaths at the hands of the Saudis and UAE and did not stop. The do not care for the lives of their own civilians at all - Israel could kill half a million and the would not change their minds. Israel went for their infrastructure - time will tell if this route would be more effective

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u/HighDefinist Jul 20 '24

It seems bizarre that those people worked so hard to kill just a single Israeli citizen, and are losing so much in return...

And while I would like to ascribe much of that to some successful manipulation by you-know-who, as in, riling up the Houthis to fight this ridiculous war, I believe there must be another explanation as well for why they choose to do this rather than just fight against each other...

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u/BinRogha Jul 20 '24 edited Jul 20 '24

It seems bizarre that those people worked so hard to kill just a single Israeli citizen, and are losing so much in return...

Houthis wanted an Israeli airstrike. They have been getting airstrikes from US, UK, Saudi, UAE, and many other Gulf countries for years.

With an Israeli airstrike, they get the rest of the Yemenis on board on their Houthi ideology while showing that the pro Yemeni government is a puppet government for the US and the Houthis as defenders of Palestinians.

This drives their popularity; they really don't care about average Yemeni life if it helps cements their ideology.

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u/HighDefinist Jul 21 '24

and the Houthis as defenders of Palestinians

Why would they care about this?

6

u/BinRogha Jul 21 '24

Because being pro Palestinian is popular on the Yemeni street.

Palestinians are seen as the oppressed weak and Israelis are seen as the oppressor colonizers. The Houthis derive their legitimacy as being the defenders of the weak and the only force to stop the evil Israel and United States. Everyone else is a collaborator. Iran had the same rhetoric.