Yemen’s Houthis Celebrate Terror Attack in Israel

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen congratulated Palestinian terrorists for last week’s attacks in Elad, Israel.

The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen are celebrating Thursday’s terror attack in Elad, which they praised it as an operation “in the heart of the Zionist regime,” Iranian news media quoted the Houthi statement as saying.

The Houthis are a rebel group in Yemen who have been fighting the Saudi-backed government of Yemen for years. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen to prevent the group taking Aden and other cities. Since then, the Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Riyadh.

They increasingly also condemn Israel and seek to work closely with Iran and Hezbollah. Their official slogan is antisemitic and calls for death to Israel and “cursing” Jews.

The group put out a statement of “congratulations on the Palestinian operation against the Israeli enemy” and said the “operation” took place in response to the actions of the Zionist enemy and its attack on Islamic sanctuaries.

The Houthis said they support the attacks that have “shaken the Zionist regime.” They also called on Muslims in the region to support the attacks. They accused Israel of threatening Al-Aqsa mosque.

The statement said that “what the Zionist enemy must know is that peace and security will not come as long as Palestine is occupied, and that compromise agreements lead to nothing but defeat and despair.”

The report then notes that “this action is taking place while the Zionist army forces raided the house of the martyr’s father in Jenin and clashed with the resistance forces.” The Houthis call the Palestinian terror groups “resistance.”

Iran is trying to knit together the Houthis with pro-Iranian groups in Iraq, as well as with Hamas and Hezbollah. The goal for Iran is to create a united front against Israel that runs from Yemen along the Red Sea all the way to Iraq and the Gulf, as well as Syria and Lebanon.

Iran wants to base drones and other threats in Yemen. The goal will be to use them against Israel in a future conflict. This is why Iran publishes the Houthi compliments regarding the recent terror attack.

A journalist and analyst concentrating on the Middle East, Seth J. Frantzman has a PhD from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was an assistant professor at Al-Quds University. He is the Oped Editor and an analyst on Middle East Affairs at The Jerusalem Post and his work has appeared at The National Interest, The Spectator, The Hill, National Review, The Moscow Times, and Rudaw. He is a frequent guest on radio and TV programs in the region and internationally, speaking on current developments in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. As a correspondent and researcher has covered the war on ISIS in Iraq and security in Turkey, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, the UAE and eastern Europe.
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I recently witnessed something I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, August 16, 2024, a group of pro-Hamas activists packed up their signs and went home in the face of spirited and non-violent opposition from a coalition of pro-American Iranians and American Jews. The last time I saw anything like that happen was in 2006 or 2007, when I led a crowd of Israel supporters in chants in order to silence a heckler standing on the sidewalk near the town common in Amherst, Massachusetts. The ridicule was enough to prompt him and his fellow anti-Israel activists to walk away, as we cheered their departure. It was glorious.