Will Yemen’s Houthis Block the Red Sea?

 

By Henry Srebrnik, Saint John Telegraph-Journal

The ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States has made the world aware of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway that serves as a chokehold between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. On one side lies Ian, on the other an exclave of Oman.

On the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, the Bab el-Mandeb strait serves a similar function between the Red Sea, with the Suez Canal connecting it to the Mediterranean Sea, at its north, and the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean to the south. It separates Yemen on the Middle Eastern side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African side. And it is a waterway through which about 12 per cent of seaborne-traded oil travels.

While Iran blocks the first waterway, Yemen’s Houthis might now do the same at the second. They are the strongest remaining member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, and they are currently exerting significant pressure on America’s Gulf allies.

The Houthi rebels emerged in the 1990s from the Zaydi Shi’ite heartland of northern Yemen, fought six wars against the Yemeni government between 2004 and 2010, and seized the capital city of Sanaa in 2014. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition in a major anti-Houthi military intervention, yet more than 11 years of warfare have failed to dislodge them from the capital or much of Yemen’s densely populated northwest.

The Saudis back the Aden-based ruling Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (YPLC), the official recognized government of Yemen. There had been an on-again, off-again truce by the various contending forces in Yemen after 2022, but no longer. In July, the Iranians flew a Houthi delegation from Tehran to Sanaa, challenging the anti-Houthi Saudi-led coalition’s control of Yemen’s airspace.

To prevent the aircraft from landing, Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government bombed the Sanaa airport’s sole runway. Although the plane landed at the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah instead, the Saudi action gave the Houthis a pretext for abandoning the fragile truce. It was at that point that the group began their bold escalation against Saudi interests and launched their new offensive against government forces in Yemen. The Saudi airstrikes and the rapid Houthi response may signal the beginning of a new and dangerous phase in the conflict.

In the past few weeks, the Houthis have launched a major new bid for military dominance in the country. Backed by Iran, they unleashed a wave of drones and ballistic missiles strikes on Saudi Arabia, setting fire to oil facilities. They defeated Saudi-backed government forces along the Red Sea coast, captured the strategic port of Mokha, and seized Perim Island at the mouth of the Bab el-Mandeb.

Houthi control of these will allow the group to more easily harass Red Sea shipping, placing further pressure on global energy and financial markets. Saudi oil exports through the Bab el-Mandeb have plummeted 95 per cent. Now, by also targeting infrastructure and ships near the Saudi Red Sea port complex of Yanbu, an industrial center known for its oil refineries, the Houthis are threatening the transit of oil exports sent by pipeline from eastern oil fields and then shipped northward through Egypt’s Suez Canal.

Israel and the United States caused significant damage to Houthi strongholds during the Gaza War. In the spring of 2025, the Trump administration undertook more than 1,000 airstrikes; a few months later, the Israelis targeted Houthi infrastructure and assassinated the group’s de facto prime minister and its military chief of staff.

Yet, with Iranian support, these campaigns simply emboldened the group, and they assumed that Saudi Arabia would also step back. This was a miscalculation. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has clearly had enough and has been preparing for confrontation.

On July 30, Riyadh announced a 14-country naval defence coalition for the Red Sea that included Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti. The crown prince signed a mutual defence agreement with Turkey and Pakistan at a ceremony in Mecca with the leaders of both countries at his side. The chiefs of staff of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey then met in Riyadh July 25 under the Mecca defence pact, as Houthi attacks continued.

Yemen has many armed groups apart from the Houthis, who oppose the internationally recognized regime. In January, Saudi Arabia had a falling out with its ally in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), when Abu Dhabi-aligned separatist forces led by the Southern Transition Council (STC) tried to assert control over all of south Yemen, which had once been the British-governed Aden Protectorate. The north has been an independent state, ruled for centuries by a monarchy.

Riyadh wants a Yemeni state capable of securing the Saudi border, while Abu Dhabi cultivated those southern forces in Yemen whose ambitions for autonomy or independence conflicted with Saudi priorities. Since then, the Emiratis have withdrawn from Yemen entirely, allowing Riyadh to unify government military forces under its direct command.

Yemen’s government has now called for a general mobilisation. Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling YPLC, has asked citizens to “contribute in every way possible” in the fight. He pledged to recapture Sanaa and restore government sovereignty over the whole of Yemen. This will not be easy, even with Saudi help. The Houthis are a resilient movement.

 

A “Tour” of Antisemitism in Eastern Europe

 By Henry Srebrnik, Jewish Post, Winnipeg

As we enter the fourth year of the “October 7” wars, things in Eastern Europe remain dire. There have been dozens of attacks on Jewish institutions across the region.

True, there are a few bright spots. Albania’s prime minister is a surprising ally of Israel in a mostly Muslim country. Edi Rama openly defends Israel’s right to protect itself, and condemns Hamas in extremely harsh terms, calling them the “Nazis of the 21st century.” He notes that waves of Jewish refugees were welcomed over the centuries.

“On the eve of World War II, only about 200 Jews lived in Albania,” he told the Jewish magazine Mishpacha. “After the Holocaust, there were more Jews here than before -- about 3,000. We didn’t hand over a single Jew to the Nazis. Seventy-five Albanians are officially recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, but in truth, the entire population mobilized.”

There is also better news from Croatia. Rabbi Pini and Raizy Zaklas moved to the country in 2004 to establish the first Chabad centre on “the land of a thousand islands.” Coming from their native Israel, it took time for them to come to terms with the fears of the Jewish community.

“We spent the first decade just earning their trust,” Raizy explained. “We had to put our grand ambitions aside and choose an individualized approach, fostering relationships through one-on-one meetings at coffee shops. Sometimes we felt disheartened at the slow pace of growth here, and worried we weren’t making progress. But I see in retrospect that we were putting down roots.”

In 2016, the Zaklas purchased a five-story building in the centre of Zagreb. Since then, it has become the spiritual center of Jewish life in the country. It’s a place where hundreds of weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and holiday programs take place annually. It’s a place where more than 3,000 Croatian Jewish men, women, and children find connection with their heritage. And it’s a place where thousands of tourists visit each year.

Less positive is the position of the Czech Jewish community. The Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic registered a total of 4,694 antisemitic incidents in 2024, compared with 2023, when 4,328 cases were reported. The severity of antisemitic incidents dramatically increased following the events of October 7. 2023. Anti-Jewish hatred, particularly in the form of demonization and delegitimization of Israel, became socially accepted and, according to the Federation, dominated public opinion.

In Greece, a spate of incidents in 2025 included a pro-Palestinian protest that blocked Israelis attempting to disembark from a ship in Syros, an alleged attack against Israeli teens in Rhodes, and an attack on King David Burger, a kosher eatery in Athens. Greek Jewish groups condemned an “anti-Zionist patrol” which took place on the streets of Thessaloniki, 95 years after assault squads targeted Jews in the same city. The left-wing anarchist Rouvikonas group organized the “anti-Zionist patrol” heading toward Mavili Square, which they said “Israeli capital has parasitically infiltrated.” They were joined by members of the groups Permanent Struggle for Class Liberation and the Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki.

However, in recent years there has been great improvement in formal Greek-Israeli relations, particularly following the disintegration of Israeli relations with Turkey. In August, Israel and Greece finalized a $3.5 billion deal, called the “Achilles Shield,” providing the Hellenic Republic with a multilayered antimissile system designed to protect the European Union country against aerial attacks from nations such as Iran and Turkey. It is one of the largest defence export deals in the history of the Jewish state.

The two countries “share common strategic interests and face shared regional challenges,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz indicated. “At a time when actors with hegemonic ambitions are seeking to expand their influence and undermine stability in the region, Israel and Greece will continue to deepen their defence and strategic cooperation.”

Hungary too is a bright spot. It has stood virtually alone in defending Israel in the European Union. Budapest has consistently blocked one-sided, anti-Israel statements and stood firm on Israel’s right to defend itself. At the United Nations, where Israel is routinely demonized, Hungary has refused to go along with the mob. And not just on the international stage. At home, Hungary walks the walk.

Hungary is home to the largest Jewish community in Central Europe, with estimates ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 Jews, most of them living in Budapest. The city is one of the only capitals in Europe where Jews can freely wear a yarmulke without being harassed, attend synagogue without metal detectors and celebrate Jewish holidays without police guarding the doors of synagogues. The government has invested millions into preserving Jewish heritage sites, restoring synagogues and funding Holocaust education not just as a formality, but as a national priority.

Poland had the highest Jewish population in Europe prior to the Holocaust and was also the site of the Nazi death camps where most European Jews were murdered. It has therefore always been careful to curb expressions of antisemitism since it became a democratic state in 1989.

But the proportion of Polish citizens who dislike Jews has risen to 40 per cent, according to Poland’s Centre for Public Opinion Research’s 2026 findings. Conducted annually since 1993, the survey asks Poles whether they like or dislike various national and ethnic groups (21 in total). It found that the proportion of people saying they dislike Jews rose eight percentage points, more than for any other group.

Still, thousands of people converge on the historic Jewish quarter of Krakow every summer to attend the annual Krakow Jewish Festival. The festival was initially launched three-and-a-half decades ago for a non-Jewish audience as a new generation of young Poles has discovered a shared past in their mixed history.

“We seek to reintroduce the Jewish contribution to Polish culture to mainstream Polish society after many decades under Communism, where Jewish issues were banned in the country, and people didn’t know that Jewish contributed so much to our heritage,” Krakow Jewish Festival director Robert Gadek explained. “Here you have a Jewish festival that is being held in the open air, and everyone feels safe.”

The war in Gaza sparked a wave of antisemitism in Romania, which has a poor track record of protecting its Jews. Antisemitism in Romania today is visible in far-right demonstrations, extremist political movements, and hostile rhetoric in parts of the media. “It’s getting worse,” according to Alexandru Muraru, a member of Romania’s parliament and vice-president of its National Liberal Party, who is not Jewish. “In Western Europe, they have big Muslim communities, which generates antisemitism. In Romania, there are only one or two mosques, but our antisemitism has historical roots.” Indeed, it does. In the 1930s, Greater Romania was home to some 800,000 Jews, giving it the world’s fourth-largest Jewish population after the United States, Poland and the Soviet Union.

“Back then, Jews made up an important proportion of Romanian society,” indicated Gilbert Șaim, who is the gabbai, or custodian, of Bucharest’s famous Choral Temple. “Despite widespread discrimination, there were villages, towns, and cities with large Jewish majorities -- even villages established by ethnic Jews centuries ago, like Podu Iloaiei.”

Only 20 per cent of Romanians know about the Holocaust or its wartime role under pro-Nazi puppet Ion Antonescu. Most are unaware of their country’s role in the mass murder and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews during World War II.

Antisemitism is expanding on social media, Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, though less visible in traditional mass media. The COVID pandemic amplified conspiracy dating back to the late 19th century.  Despite a ban on glorification of Nazi heroes, at the end of November 2024, there was a public ceremony to commemorate a fascist leader.

This past April, the European Parliament lifted the immunity of one of its 33 Romanian members, Diana Sosoaca, the controversial leader of the ultra-nationalist and antisemitic SOS Romania party. Sosoaca, a lawyer, received the honorary Order of the State of for her support of the Palestinian cause.

Although antisemitic incidents are not too common, Serbia, like most other countries in Eastern Europe, also contends with a strong nationalist streak. Around 1,500 Serbs belong to extremist groups, of which perhaps 120 are active. Serbian Action, a small group of neo-Nazis, occasionally holds rallies and spray-paints antisemitic, anti-immigrant and anti-gay graffiti on public buildings.

Israeli and Serbian officials denounced antisemitic comments made by demonstrators during a clash between Serbian students and police at a protest last April. “Death to Vucic and all the Jews around him,” one protester said in a televised interview, referring to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “Long live Serbia.”

Nemanja Starovic, the Serbian minister of European integration and the chair of Serbia’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, called on the protest leaders to “unambiguously condemn these antisemitic incidents and to immediately remove all antisemitic messages and slogans from university premises.”

A cause of uncertainty among Jews in Slovakia is the continuing defence by some traditionalist Slovak Catholic clerics and others of the reputation of Father Jozef Tiso, Slovakia’s most senior perpetrator during the Second World War. Tiso was responsible for extreme anti-Jewish laws and widespread Jewish impoverishment followed by expulsion of most of the country’s Jews to Nazi death camps. Yet there has emerged a whole literature of excuses for him.

As Slovenia takes a hard line against Israel, its tiny Jewish community feels increasingly isolated. Slovenia’s Jews have experienced a pattern of hostility for decades. In June 2024, Slovenia’s parliament voted to recognize a Palestinian state, only one week after Spain, Ireland, and Norway had taken that dramatic step. Half a year later, Slovenian public broadcaster RTV, became the first in Europe to demand Israel’s exclusion from the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. RTV warned it might boycott future editions of Eurovision if Israel isn’t expelled.

Slovenia banned imports from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, only a week after prohibiting all weapons trade with Israel, the first EU member to do so. It also became the first European Union country to impose a travel ban on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.