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By Air & By Water: The Houthi War Against Israel

Supporters of Yemen’s Houthis hold up their rifles as they rally to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the ousting of the government in Sanaa, Yemen September 21, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Less than two weeks after Hamas’ brutal October 7 terror invasion, as Israel was conducting intense strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza and preparing for its ground invasion, the Houthi movement in Yemen surprised the world by embarking on a terror campaign against Israel.

The barrage of five cruise missiles and roughly 30 UAVs were launched at both Israel and the Red Sea region. Almost all of these aerial threats were intercepted by a US naval ship operating in the Red Sea. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea followed soon after.

To understand why a Yemen-based group is intent on attacking a country almost 2,000 miles away, it is important to understand who the Houthis are, the role that antisemitism plays in the movement’s worldview, and how it is connected to both Iran and its regional proxies.

Who Are the Houthis?

The group known as the Houthis (officially named Ansar Allah == Partisans of God) first emerged in the 1990s/2000s in northern Yemen as part of a religious revival by Zaidi-Shi’ite Muslims.

By the early 2000s, the group had grown into a militant movement led by Hussein al-Houthi — and, in 2004, it first sought to overthrow the government of Yemen. Al-Houthi was killed in this first uprising, and the group is now led by his brother, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

By 2009, there had been six rounds of fighting between the Houthis and the armed forces of Yemen, resulting in Houthi control over part of northern Yemen.

In late 2014/early 2015, following Yemen’s revolution and the weakening of governmental power, the Houthis gained control over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and sought to depose the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, prompting the Yemeni civil war.

As part of the civil war, a wide range of Middle Eastern and North African countries have contributed forces to a Saudi-led coalition that seeks to back up the Yemeni government. This has led to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Since April 2022, a shaky truce has existed between both sides, with the Houthis controlling approximately 25% of Yemeni territory, which includes roughly half the total population of Yemen.

The Houthis’ Antisemitism

Hatred for Israel and the Jewish people is at the core of the Houthi movement’s worldview.

Part of the official slogan of the Houthi movement is “Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews.”

The Houthi movement’s antisemitism stems back to the early 2000s, to the group’s founder, Hussein al-Houthi.

Al-Houthi’s sermons were rife with hatred for both Israel and the Jewish people, with him calling for the “elimination and destruction” of the Jewish state, and warning that Muslim and Arab nations “will not be delivered from the evil of the Jews except by their eradication, and by the elimination of their entity.”

Al-Houthi also blamed Jews for the world’s woes and accused them of “manufacturing world opinion.”

The legacy of Hussein al-Houthi’s antisemitism continues to this day.

Ever since the attacks of October 7, Houthi outlets and leaders have unleashed a wave of antisemitism online, quoting the fabricated antisemitic tome The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, lauding Adolf Hitler, and spreading antisemitic caricatures.

While the Houthis’ invective against Israel was largely bluster until October 2023, its antisemitism did have real consequences for the extremely small Jewish community that existed in territory controlled by the Houthis.

Jews living under Houthi control were regularly subjected to abuse for their commitment to Judaism and, by 2021, the last Jews were expelled by the Houthis from their territory.

The Houthis as Part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”

Similar to Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis are a recipient of patronage from the Islamic Republic of Iran, including advanced weapons and training.

However, although the Houthis are considered to be part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and the West — which includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and Shiite Iraqi militias — the Yemen-based group acts independently of the Islamic Republic and is not beholden to every whim of their patrons in Tehran.

Nevertheless, despite the nuances of the relationship between Iran and the Houthis, it is clear that the latest attacks from Yemen toward Israel and its allies in the Red Sea region are in line with Iran’s post-October 7 policy of “unification of the fronts.” This policy aims to apply pressure on Israel from different fronts so that it cannot concentrate all its military power in the fight against Hamas in Gaza.

Several Western officials have surmised that it is extremely likely that the Houthis’ attacks have been sanctioned by the Islamic Republic, if not outright ordered by it.

The Houthi War Against Israel

In the days following the October 7 Hamas attacks, Houthi representatives made several public statements expressing support for Hamas, declaring that they were “in complete coordination with … the axis of resistance,” and threatening both Israel and the United States.

As noted above, it was almost two weeks later before the Houthis fired the first shot against Israel.

Since then (as of December 17, 2023), several other missiles and UAVs have been launched by the Houthis toward Israel, all of which have been intercepted by Israel, the United States, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia.

However daunting the idea of a Houthi attack against Israel is, the aerial threat posed by the Yemeni group to the Jewish state is smaller when compared to that of Hamas and Hezbollah, due to the considerable distance between Yemen and Israel.

The much greater danger posed by the Houthis to Israel is the threat to both Israel-connected ships and ships bound for Israel in the Red Sea.

On November 14, 2023, the Houthis warned that any ships with a connection to Israel passing through the Red Sea would be attacked.

This threat came to fruition five days later, when Houthi fighters hijacked the Galaxy Leader, a ship owned by a company that is headed by an Israeli businessman.

In the following days, several other ships in the Red Sea were attacked, despite the fact that some of them had no connection to Israel at all.

On December 9, the Houthis raised the ante by threatening any ship headed for Israel, no matter the national origins of that vessel.

This threat is serious enough that several multinational corporations have suspended shipping through the Red Sea.

In response to the Houthi threats and attacks, the United States is forming a multinational coalition known as Operation Prosperity Guardian, which will “tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor.”

U.S warns Houthi rebels to stop their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and against Israel

‘Their idea is to put pressure on Israel but also on the West… About 12% percent of the global shipping goes through the Red Sea, ‘ explains @IISS_org‘s Research Fellow @fab_hinz pic.twitter.com/soWbHh4mKS

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) December 15, 2023

In an effort to harm Israel following October 7, the Houthi movement has also initiated an economic war against the Jewish state, reducing traffic by 80% at its southern port in Eilat and forcing Israeli shipping companies to move in a circuitous route, raising the prices of goods in Israel.

However, the brazenness of the Houthis’ hostilities toward Israel might be its undoing, as it has set itself against not only Israel but major regional and international powers with a vested interest in protecting the critical Red Sea shipping route.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post By Air & By Water: The Houthi War Against Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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The BBC Documentary That Paints Every Israeli as an Extremist

The Jewish community of Beit El in Judea and Samaria. Photo: Yaakov via Wikimedia Commons.

Louis Theroux first visited the West Bank in 2011 to film a documentary titled Louis and the Ultra-Zionists, part of his long-running series for the BBC. Back then, he at least seemed to possess a trace of journalistic curiosity. Even the title signaled a degree of editorial caution — framing his subjects as a small, ideological fringe rather than representative of Israeli society as a whole.

At the time, Theroux made an effort to clarify that he was profiling a narrow segment of Israelis. He showed legally purchased Jewish homes (sold by Arab landowners, no less) and acknowledged the regular — and at times deadly — terror attacks faced by Israeli civilians living in the area, often requiring military protection. There was condescension, certainly. But there was also context.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the curiosity is gone — though the bemused, slightly smug expression remains. His new BBC documentary, Louis and the Settlers, drops even the soft qualifiers. No “ultra.” No nuance. Just “settlers.” And with that, Theroux makes it clear: half a million Israelis living in the West Bank are one and the same — extremists who, we’re told, want every last Palestinian removed from the land.

This time, the documentary doesn’t begin with questions. It begins with conclusions. And Theroux uses a brief, unrepresentative snapshot of life in the West Bank to draw sweeping indictments of the entire Israeli state.

The message is unmistakable: Israel is the problem. Settlers are the villains. And Palestinians are passive, blameless victims of a colonial project.

Within the opening minutes, Theroux plants his ideological flag. He refers to the West Bank as “Palestinian territory” and describes every Israeli community within it as illegal under international law — a sharp departure from his more qualified approach 14 years earlier.

And while his personal views seep in throughout the film, they become crystal clear during one exchange at a checkpoint, where an Israeli soldier casually refers to their location as “Israel.” Theroux shoots back: “We’re not in Israel, are we?”

And just like that, the BBC and Louis Theroux have redrawn Israel’s borders. No Knesset debate needed.

Erasing History to Blame the Massacre

The timing of this return trip is no accident. The film comes in the shadow of the October 7 Hamas massacres — the day 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered, families were burned alive in their homes, and children were dragged into Gaza. And yet, Theroux barely mentions it.

The few passing references to October 7 serve not to inform the audience — but to imply that Israel may be exploiting its own dead to justify further expansion. It’s not an investigation. It’s an accusation. And it allows him to skip over thousands of years of Jewish history in order to frame the current war in Gaza as a convenient cover story for Israeli “aggression.”

Take Hebron, for example. Theroux tells viewers that “in 1968, the year after [the West Bank] was occupied by Israel, a community of Jewish settlers moved in illegally. They now number some 700.” He fails to mention that in 1895 — decades before the modern state of Israel existed — Hebron had a Jewish population of 1,429.

Jews have lived in Hebron since antiquity — it’s where, according to Jewish tradition, Abraham purchased the Cave of the Patriarchs. Modern records date the community back centuries, despite discrimination under Ottoman rule and bans on Jewish prayer at holy sites. In 1929, Arab rioters carried out a massacre, wiping out Hebron’s Jewish population. Dozens were murdered; the rest were expelled. Under Jordanian rule from 1948 to 1967, Jews were banned from the city entirely. When they returned after the Six-Day War — not as colonists, but as a displaced community coming home — Theroux picks up the story there and calls it “illegal.”

On the Six-Day War itself, Theroux offers no context. No mention of the Arab armies preparing to destroy Israel. No mention of Israel’s preemptive strike against an existential threat.

According to The Settlers, Israel simply “occupied” — full stop.

Palestinian Terrorism? Not Even a Footnote.

Theroux visits Evyatar, a small Jewish community near the Palestinian town of Beita, and uses it as a stand-in for the entire West Bank. Beita is depicted as a symbol of peaceful resistance: a proud, ancient Palestinian village standing firm against violent settlers backed by IDF soldiers.

It’s a neat story. Too neat. Because missing from the story are years of organized, violent riots from Beita — complete with Molotov cocktails, burning Stars of David, and Nazi swastikas. All carefully omitted to preserve the narrative: Palestinians peaceful, settlers aggressive. Facts that don’t fit? Left on the cutting room floor.

Meanwhile, Israeli nationalism is treated as something sinister and unsettling — a moral aberration to be examined. The notion that Jews might want sovereignty or security is met with thinly veiled suspicion. Yet Hamas’ goal of a Jew-free Palestine, explicitly laid out in its charter, is never mentioned. Nor is the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” policy, which literally incentivizes terrorism by rewarding those who murder Israelis — including women and children.

These aren’t fringe details. They’re central to understanding the region. And Theroux knows it. He just doesn’t care.

The BBC’s Complicity

That The Settlers aired on the BBC — a publicly funded broadcaster once seen as a gold standard of global journalism — says plenty. Not just about Louis Theroux’s agenda, but about the institutional direction of the BBC itself. This wasn’t a rogue filmmaker sneaking bias past the editors. This was bias built into the foundation — signed off, packaged, and broadcast under the banner of credibility.

There is, of course, no problem with scrutinizing Israeli policy, and no issue with questioning the settlement enterprise or highlighting the tensions in the West Bank. But journalism — real journalism — demands context. It demands precision. It demands at least a passing familiarity with the full scope of the story.

Theroux offers none of that. He arrives with a predetermined script and casts his roles accordingly: Hero. Villain. Victim. Oppressor. And when reality refuses to cooperate? It’s left out.

Louis Theroux didn’t return to Israel to understand it. He returned to flatten it. To reduce its complexity to a morality play — and to ensure everyone knows the antagonist is.

The Settlers isn’t a documentary. It’s a hit piece. And the BBC handed him the camera — then applauded the performance.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The BBC Documentary That Paints Every Israeli as an Extremist first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl

Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Photo: Screenshot

The Indian government announced on Thursday that its military forces had killed “Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist,” who was connected to the 2002 murder of Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.

On Wednesday, India launched “Operation Sindoor,” which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims is targeted at dismantling “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The operation came after Pakistani terrorists killed 26 Hindu tourists in Kashmir last month amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

In a post on X, the BJP confirmed that during this week’s operation, the Indian army killed Islamist terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar, who was involved in numerous terrorism plots, including the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight, the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament, and the 2016 Pathankot Air Force base attack.

Azhar’s involvement in the 1999 hijacking led to the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born al-Qaeda member with close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence services, who later was involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of 38-year-old Pearl, who was covering the war on terror as a journalist when he was abducted.

In a statement on X, Pearl’s father, Judea, addressed initial reports regarding Azhar’s death and his connection to his son’s murder.

“I want to clarify: Azhar was a Pakistani extremist and leader of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed. While his group was not directly involved in the plot to abduct Danny, it was indirectly responsible. Azhar orchestrated the hijacking that led to the release of Omar Sheikh — the man who lured Danny into captivity,” he said.

In 2002, the Jewish-American journalist was abducted and killed by a group of Islamist terrorists connected to Azhar’s militant network, which had ties to al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group aiming to separate Kashmir from India and incorporate it into Pakistan.

On Jan. 27, 2002, an email was sent to several Pakistani and US media organizations, which included several photos, stating that Pearl was being held in “inhumane” conditions to protest the US treatment of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba. Photo: Screenshot

Originally stationed in New Delhi as the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, Pearl later moved to Pakistan to investigate terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

After kidnapping Pearl at a restaurant in Karachi, southern Pakistan, the Islamist terrorists, who identified themselves as the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, accused him of being an Israeli spy and sent the United States a list of demands for his release.

However, Washington did not meet their demands, and Pearl was ultimately executed after being held captive for five weeks.

His wife, Mariane Pearl, gave birth to a baby boy, Adam D. Pearl, in Paris later that year. On the Daniel Pearl Foundation website, she said, “Adam’s birth rekindles the joy, love, and humanity that Danny radiated wherever he went.”

The post Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jewish Jewelry Shop Owners Brutally Assaulted in Tunisia Days Before Annual Pilgrimage

A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete. Photo: Screenshot

A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete just days before the Tunisian island was set to host its annual Jewish pilgrimage, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors.

On Wednesday morning, two Jewish men — owners of a jewelry shop in the center of the island, located off Tunisia’s southeast coast — were physically assaulted by a man carrying a large knife.

Although the attack was halted when one of them screamed — alerting members of the local Jewish community who subdued the assailant — one of them was left severely injured.

According to local media reports, the attacker had surveyed the island the day before, visiting several stores to identify those owned by Jews. Local police arrested him shortly following the assault.

After the attack, one of the owners was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries. The 50-year-old Jewish man had his fingers severed during the assault and underwent surgery to reattach them.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attack and expressed his wishes for a swift recovery to the victims.

“This attack comes two years after the previous deadly assault that claimed Jewish lives and the lives of security personnel during the Lag BaOmer celebration,” the top Israeli diplomat wrote in a post on X.

“I call on the Tunisian authorities to take all necessary measures to protect the Jewish community,” Saar continued.

Djerba is home to the majority of Tunisia’s Jewish community, numbering about 2,000 people, and is also where the renowned El Ghriba Synagogue, one of North Africa’s oldest synagogues, is located.

The attack comes just a week before Jewish pilgrims are expected to arrive on the island for the Lag B’Omer holiday, when thousands gather annually for three days of festivities. The annual pilgrimage to El Ghriba Synagogue, scheduled for May 15 and 16 this year, draws visitors from around the world.

The synagogue has been targeted in multiple terrorist attacks over the years, including in 1985, 2002, and 2023.

Two years ago, a shooting at the synagogue claimed the lives of two Jewish cousins and three police officers. Aviel Hadad, a 30-year-old Israeli goldsmith, and Ben Hadad, a 42-year-old Frenchman who had traveled to join the festivities, were among the victims.

The post Jewish Jewelry Shop Owners Brutally Assaulted in Tunisia Days Before Annual Pilgrimage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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