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Will the US Task Force Undo Years of Neglecting the Houthi Threat?
FILE PHOTO: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
JNS.org – As the U.S.-led naval task force in the Red Sea operates defensively against the threat posed by the Houthis in Yemen, the wider question of whether Washington will reverse years of neglect and downplaying of the Iran-backed Houthi threat remains open.
It remains unclear whether the increased tensions in the region will develop into conflict, or whether Washington will make due with minimal defensive measures.
Iran and its Houthi proxy are likely gambling on wearing out Washington’s patience and blockading shipping to Israel indefinitely, creating a threat that Israel cannot accept.
And if they succeed, Tehran likely has its sights set on the Persian Gulf, experts warn.
In recent days, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian spoke with his British counterpart, David Cameron, to discuss regional developments. Cameron told Abdollahian that Iran bore responsibility for preventing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the Meir Amit Intelligence Terrorism Information Center reported, citing Iranian media.
Abdollahian said Iran would respond forcefully to any aggression by the “Zionist entity” and that stopping a “Zionist ship in the Red Sea” could not be seen as a threat to the security of the shipping routes while Israel was allowed to carry out “massacres of women and children” and ignite the region, according to the report.
In a recent sign of ongoing Iran-Houthi coordination, on Dec. 31 Iranian state media reported that Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council—the main Iranian military decision-making body—met with the Houthi spokesman and chief negotiator Mohammad Abdeslam.
Ahmadian praised the Houthis’ recent actions, which included a spate of attacks on Red Sea commercial shipping and the firing of missiles and UAVs at Eilat, most of which have been intercepted by American, Israeli, Egyptian and Saudi air defenses.
On that same day, Reuters reported that at least 10 Houthis were killed and two wounded in an attack carried out by American forces on four Houthi boats trying to take control of a Danish ship in the Red Sea.
In response, Yahya Saria, spokesman for the Houthi armed forces, said the United States was responsible for the “crime” and its consequences. He said the American military operation in the Red Sea was designed to protect Israeli ships but would not prevent Yemen from “fulfilling its duty to support the Palestinians.”
He reiterated that the Houthi forces would continue to prevent the passage of Israeli ships or ships sailing towards Israeli ports—thereby confirming the Houthi—Iranian strategy of blockading Israel’s Red Sea shipping lanes, posing a severe threat to its economy, as well as to the wider global economy.
Abdeslam Hajaf, a member of the Houthis’ Shura Council and Defense and Security Committee, claimed that the American attack was a “declaration of war.”
Britain’s Times newspaper, meanwhile, reported that Britain and the United States are preparing to carry out a series of attacks against the Houthis, and may be joined by another European country.
In a sign of the orchestrated nature of the Houthi actions as part of the Iranian radical terror axis, the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad issued an announcement on Dec. 31 condemning the American action against Houthi forces, and called on Arab and Islamic nations to “confront the American aggression against Yemen by all possible means.”
Iran’s Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea after passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an Iranian news agency reported on Jan. 1. In its report, Tasnim, which is said to be close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), did not specify the details of the Alborz’s mission but linked the move to Israel’s war against Hamas.
“Following rising tensions in the Gaza war, there has been an acceleration in developments in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” it said.
IDF Col. (res.) Shaul Shay, a lecturer at Reichman University in Herzliya and a senior research associate at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism, noted that the strong connection between Iran and the Houthis goes back to 2014, when the Houthis conquered the Yemenite capital of Sana’a, and from there began expanding to other parts of the country, almost seizing Aden as well.
“Then the Saudis established their coalition and entered the battle to push back the Houthis and save the legitimate government. What happened is that at this stage of the war, in fact, the main advantage of the Saudis, of the coalition was, in air power, and they really tried to use it to the best of their ability. And this created two processes that in my opinion affect what we are at today,” said Shay, who served as deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council from 2007 to 2009.
The first is that Iran entered the war on the side of the Houthis in a very distinct manner, despite its many denials. In practice, said Shay, Iran began providing the Houthis with a strategic answer to Saudi air superiority, such as UAVs, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles.
“From the Iranian perspective, this quickly became a proxy war, which was about regional hegemony in the Middle East. Iran against the Saudi axis,” said Shay.
The second process involved the Western reaction. Unfortunately, said Shay, at this stage, the United States and Western Europe began to blame Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and its many civilian casualties, while failing to recognize that this was a strategic battle for the fate of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Houthis began bombarding Saudi cities and military sites with missiles and UAVs. In 2019, strikes targeted Saudi oil fields at Abqaiq and Khurais, which stopped half of Saudi oil exports at the time and which according to a U.S. investigation originated from Iran directly, despite Houthi claims of responsibility.
In order to avoid repeating the same mistake now, Shay argued, the U.S. task force in the Red Sea will need to go further than merely providing a protective envelope against missiles and sea mines targeting shipping.
“If this is how it ends, the Iranians and Houthis will win the war. The scenario of an Iranian victory includes the Houthis continuing to threaten the ships,” Shay added.
This would encourage Iran to replicate what it is doing in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz, through which pass most oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
“They will close it when they want to, and through the Houthis, they control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This has huge strategic implications, also economically, on the entire global economy,” said Shay. “The Bab el-Mandeb issue should have been solved a few years ago. But if we’ve come this far, this is not an Israeli problem. It is about strategic control over a critical waterway via militias.”
As of this writing, Shay noted that not only are the Iranians not being punished for activating the Houthis, but neither are the Houthis themselves.
“This situation is, at least in my view, intolerable,” he said.
The post Will the US Task Force Undo Years of Neglecting the Houthi Threat? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Faces Backlash Over Endorsement of ‘Raging Antisemite’ Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor
Candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Democratic New York City mayoral primary debate, June 4, 2025, in New York, US. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/Pool via REUTERS
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is facing sharp criticism after endorsing far-left state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City, with some US lawmakers describing the Democrat from Queens known for his fierce criticism of Israel as a “communist” and antisemitic.
Amid mounting pressure from progressive Democrats, Hochul endorsed Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday. The governor cited Mamdani’s emphasis on “public safety and making “New York City affordable.”
“We discussed the need to combat the rise of antisemitism urgently and unequivocally,” Hochul wrote. “I’ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the city, listening and addressing their concerns directly.”
In the immediate aftermath of the endorsement, Hochul faced a withering denunciation from US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who argued that the governor now supports a “raging antisemite communist.” She asserted that Hochul now “owns” Mamdani’s left-wing positions to “defund the police, abolish our law enforcement, abolish prisons, abolish private health-care insurance.”
Stefanik also accused Hochul of lending credibility to Mamdani’s “antisemitism, which put New York at risk and is a danger to the Jewish community in New York City.”
Stefanik, who serves on the House Republican leadership, is widely expected to run for governor of New York in 2026. Though a recent Sienna College poll shows Hochul maintaining a formidable lead over Stefanik, the margin has decreased from 23 points in June to 14 points in August.
US President Donald Trump also ripped into Hochul for endorsing Mamdani.
“Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has endorsed the ‘Liddle Communist,’ Zohran Mamdani, running for Mayor of New York,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City. How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!”
US Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) also chimed in, calling Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani “a complete and total disaster for our state and for the country.”
In previous elections, Hochul has enjoyed robust support from Jewish communities in Crown Heights, Borough Park, and the Five Towns. Some observers have speculated that her embrace of Mamdani threatens to fracture her base of support among Jewish voters.
A little-known politician before this year’s Democratic primary campaign, Mamdani is an outspoken supporter of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.
Mamdani has also repeatedly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, falsely suggesting the country does not offer “equal rights” for all its citizens, and promised to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.
Mamdani also initially defended the phrase “globalize the intifada” — which references previous periods of sustained Palestinian terrorism against Jews and Israels and has been widely interpreted as a call to expand political violence — by invoking the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II. However, Mamdani has since backpedaled on his support for the phrase, saying that he would discourage his supporters from using the slogan.
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Leading Nonprofit Holds ‘Antisemitism Symposium’ in Washington, DC for College Administrators
Visitors enter the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA on June 3, 2025. Photo: Jason Bergman/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
College administrators from across the US will amass in Washington, DC, this week for a three-day symposium on combating campus antisemitism, a sign of growing recognition that anti-Jewish hatred threatens not only Jewish students but all of higher education.
Organized by the Academic Engagement Network (AEN), which promotes academic freedom unfettered by boycotts and ideology, the event will be attended by administrators representing dozens of institutions such as Harvard University, Barnard College, and George Washington University, all of which have drawn scrutiny for responding to campus antisemitism in ways that critics — including Jewish community leaders and senior US officials — have described as insufficient if not dismissive.
Dozens of conversations and seminars will be held over the three-day “Antisemitism Symposium,” with many being led by AEN faculty, as well as staff from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and experts from the Jewish Federations of North America and the American Jewish Committee.
“College administrators are the ones tasked with recognizing and addressing antisemitism on campus, as well as setting the tone for behavioral expectations and campus culture,” Miriam Elman, executive director of AEN, said in a statement. “Today’s antisemitism, though, often takes forms that can be less familiar or harder to identify, making it all the more important to provide campus leaders with the tools, training, and support they need to recognize and respond effectively.”
She continued, “By hosting this convening and bringing these administrators together for a yearlong learning journey, we ensure they are not tackling these unique challenges in isolation, but as part of a national network committed to fostering welcoming, inclusive, and safe learning environments for all.”
The AEN symposium comes amid a concerted effort by American Jewish and allied organizations to persuade higher education leaders of the importance of taking steps to deter, or quell, antisemitism in the early weeks of the new academic year.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a joint statement calling for action in August, putting forth a policy framework that they say will quell antisemitism if applied sincerely and consistently. It included “enhanced communication and policy enforcement,” “dedicated administration oversight,” and “faculty accountability” — an issue of rising importance given the number of faculty accused of inciting discrimination.
“These recommendations aren’t just suggestions; they’re essential steps universities need to take to ensure Jewish students can learn without fear,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement at the time. “Jewish students are being forced to hide who they are, and that’s unacceptable — we need more administrators to step up.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, colleges campus across the US erupted with effusions of antisemitic activity following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, an uprising which included calling for the destruction of Israel, cheering Hamas’s sexual assaulting of women as an instrument of war, and numerous of incidents of assault and harassment targeting Jewish students, faculty, and activists.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), anti-Zionist protesters chanted “Itbah El Yahud” at Bruin Plaza, which means “slaughter the Jews” in Arabic. At Columbia University, Jews were gang-assaulted, a student proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself, and administrative officials, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting. At Harvard University, an October 2023 anti-Israel demonstration degenerated into chaos when Ibrahim Bharmal, former editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, and Elom Tettey-Tamaklo encircled a Jewish student with a mob that screamed “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at him while he desperately attempted to free himself from the mass of bodies.
More recently, Eden Deckerhoff — a female student at Florida State University — allegedly assaulted a Jewish male classmate at the Leach Student Recreation Center after noticing his wearing apparel issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“F—k Israel, Free Palestine. Put it [the video] on Barstool FSU. I really don’t give a f—k,” the woman said before shoving the man, according to video taken by the victim. “You’re an ignorant son of a b—h.” Deckerhoff has since been charged with misdemeanor battery.
Majorities of Jewish students continue to describe their campuses as hostile environments.
According to a recent Spring Campus Poll conducted by The Daily Northwestern, the official campus newspaper of Northwestern University, 58 percent of Jewish students reported being subjected to antisemitism or knowing someone who has. An even higher 63.1 percent said antisemitism remains a “somewhat or very serious problem.”
Meanwhile, a Columbia University “climate survey” conducted last academic year found that 53 percent of Jewish students have been subjected to discrimination because of being Jewish, while another 53 percent reported that their friendships are “strained” because of how overwhelmingly anti-Zionist the student culture is. Additionally, 29 percent of Jewish students said they have “lost close friends,” and 59 percent, nearly two-thirds, of Jewish students sensed that they would be better off by electing to “conform their political beliefs” to those of their classmates.
Nearly 62 percent of Jewish students reported a low “feeling of acceptance” at Columbia on the basis of their religious identity, and 50 percent said that the pro-Hamas encampments which capped off the 2023-2024 academic year had a negative “impact” on their daily routines. Also, Jewish students at Columbia are more likely than their peers to report these negative feelings and experiences, followed by Muslim students.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Anti-Israel Activism Takes Center Stage at Emmy Awards After Paramount Condemns Boycott of Israeli Film Companies
Javier Bardem at the 2025 Emmy Awards. Photo: REUTERS/Daniel Cole
Several members of Hollywood promoted their pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism on Sunday night at the 77th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Actor Javier Bardem – who stars in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” – wore a Palestinian keffiyeh around his neck to the ceremony and talked on the Emmys red carpet about his decision not to work with Israeli institutions and companies.
The Emmy nominee told The Hollywood Reporter that he “will never work with some company now [who] are not condemning the genocide in Gaza.” If his decision impacts the number of jobs he gets, he said, “Me not getting jobs is absolutely [ir]relevant compared to what is going on there.”
The “F1” actor also told Variety on the Emmys red carpet: “I cannot work with someone that justifies or supports the genocide. I can’t. It’s as simple as that. And we shouldn’t, in this industry and in any other industry. What we are witnessing is a genocide on a daily basis.”
Also on Sunday, in Bardem’s home country of Spain, a major cycling race was shut down after thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed with police while protesting an Israeli team’s participation in the race. Bardem mentioned the shutdown while speaking on the Emmys red carpet and said Israel’s inclusion in the race is an example of “whitewashing” the “genocide” Israel is supposedly perpetrating in Gaza.
“We ask for a commercial and diplomatic blockade, and sanctions on Israel to stop this genocide. Free Palestine,” Bardem said.
Earlier this month, thousands of members of the Hollywood film industry signed a pledge by Film Workers for Palestine to boycott any Israeli film institutions and companies that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” More than 1,300 filmmakers, actors, and other creatives signed the pledge.
The film production giant Paramount criticized the boycott in a released statement on Sept. 12.
“At Paramount, we believe in the power of storytelling to connect and inspire people, promote mutual understanding, and preserve the moments, ideas, and events that shape the world we share. This is our creative mission,” read a statement issued by Paramount chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman.
“We do not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers,” the statement continued. “Silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace. The global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world. We need more engagement and communication — not less.”
Bardem responded to Paramount while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Emmys.
“It’s also important to clarify to Paramount that we do not target individuals by their identity. That’s absolutely wrong. Don’t send that message; that is a wrong thing,” he said. “What we target are those complicit film companies and institutions that are involved in whitewashing or justifying the genocide of Israel in Gaza and its apartheid regime. And we stand with those who fight and stand in solidarity with the oppressed.”
Jewish-American actress and “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder was among those who signed the anti-Israel pledge by Film Workers for Palestine. On Sunday night, Einbinder won the Emmy for best actress in a comedy series and concluded her acceptance speech by cheering the Philadelphia Eagles, calling out immigration raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and declaring “Free Palestine.” Backstage in the press room after her first Emmy win, she told reporters that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is “an issue that’s very close to my heart.”
“I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors, right now in the north of Gaza to provide care for pregnant women and for school children to create schools in refugee camps,” Einbinder said. “I feel like it is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel because our religion and our culture is such an important and longstanding institution that is really separate to this ethnonationalist state.”
She also explained why she signed the Film Workers for Palestine pledge.
“It’s like many movements — boycotting is an effective tool to create pressure on the powers that be to meet the moment,” she said. “The Film Workers for Palestine boycott does not boycott individuals; it only boycotts institutions that are directly complicit in the genocide. So, it’s important to me and I think it’s an important measure and I was happy to be a part of it.”
Fellow “Hacks” star Megan Stalter walked the Emmys red carpet wearing a white T-shirt and jeans that she paired with a black handbag featuring a message that read, “Cease Fire!” which seemed to be a reference the war in Gaza. There were some members of the audience inside Peacock Theater who were also seen wearing the Artists4Ceasefire red pins that call for an end to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip. “White Lotus” actress Aimee Lou Wood, “Hacks” director Lucia Aniello, “Abbott Elementary” actor Chris Perfetti, and “Presumed Innocent” actress Ruth Negga were among the celebrities who wear the pins on the red carpet on Sunday.
Film Workers for Palestine responded to Paramount’s criticism of its anti-Israel boycott by saying that it hopes the studio is not “intentionally misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry.”
“Such a move would only shield a genocidal regime from criticism at a time when global outrage is exponentially growing and while meaningful steps towards accountability are being taken by many,” Film Workers for Palestine wrote in a statement posted on social media. “Should Israeli film institutions wish to continue working with pledge signatories, their choice is clear: end complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and endorse the full rights of the Palestinian people under international law, in line with Palestinian civil society guidelines.”