The announcement by the "ZIM" company today (Wednesday) that it will divert the route of the ships from the Suez Canal should not surprise any Israeli citizen. Israel has been in economic terror for nearly two months, but as it preferred the transfer of suitcases in Gaza, now the new concept is exploding, the one that will cost us money and not blood.
In the various press conferences, senior government officials were asked by me several times about the threat from Yemen. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded that Israel is aware of the threats from the Houthis and is studying them and that it will know how to act when and where needed. A few days after Gallant's answer, the terrorist militia of Yemen took over a cargo ship in the Red Sea, alongside the continuation of the security provocations towards the city of Eilat.
A week later I asked the Prime Minister the same question during the press conference, and Netanyahu replied: "We are preparing to respond to any attack on us, we are paying attention and our enemies should pay attention to it."
The equation "silence shall be answered with silence" failed
Israel's silence in the face of the actions of Yemen, which is a sovereign state, is different from the conduct in the face of Hezbollah and Syria in which Israel responds to every threat. The IDF is in the habit of constantly manipulating the neighboring countries, but in the southern sector Israel prefers to contain. Apparently we have not learned enough from the terrible equation of "silence will be answered by silence".
The restraint on the part of Israel recalls the concerns over the years to act significantly against the Gazan terrorist organizations. We all got used to hearing about air force aircraft attacks in Gaza after Qassams flew towards Sderot. The response was weak, another dune and an abandoned Hamas position were bombed so it could be seen. We received the tragic result on October 7 in the form of 1,400 murdered, which prompted the heads of the security establishment to try and make ammends on sins of years and act significantly in Gaza as we have seen in the last month and a half.
But have we learned? The answer seems to be no. Yemen realized that Israel's weakness guaranteed good results, the residents of Eilat are scared for fear that one cruise missile could lead to a disaster on a large scale. As a result, they are also testing us economically: the Red Sea is a significant axis for transporting goods from China - and now it too is blocked to traffic.
The results of the terrorist attack from Gaza caused many residents of the Gaza Strip envelope to be unemployed, but the government is not willing at the moment to stop the coalition funds for the unnecessary offices. Another economic threat will bring Israel to the threshold of 2002, the same year Netanyahu saved the economy by ignoring background voices - only this time they are his base.
An attack on Yemen will strengthen the alliance with Saudi Arabia
And back to the security aspect - Israel knows that Yemen is not Syria, it is much stronger, but Israel's military capabilities exceed those of the Houthis. Yemen is the arm of the Iranian octopus, but it is also an enemy of Saudi Arabia, the same kingdom that, had it not been for October 7th, a normalization agreement would probably have been signed on the lawns of the White House.
Israel needs to take advantage of Saudi Arabia's becoming closer to it, and striking down the Houthis will bring us even closer to the long-awaited peace and a significant Arab state that will stand by us in the face of Hamas. Meanwhile, the Saudis signal to Iran that they are ready to assist them financially in order not to drag us into a regional war. When the Arabs smell weakness, they unite as one force, we must stop it.
This message should be conveyed to President Biden: he is not interested in a regional war, so he sent military forces here. He has his interests, he is deep in an election campaign, but Israel has no other choice. As Golda Meir had already told him, we have nowhere else to go.
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