In the Red Sea region, significant geo-strategic processes have unfolded over the past decade, manifested in political, security, economic, and technological shifts. This area—stretching between the Middle East in the north, the Arabian Peninsula to the east, the Horn of Africa to the south, and East Africa to the west—has become a focal point of both global and regional power struggles. At the same time, it has also generated opportunities for complex civilian and security cooperation. These developments present Israel with a...
The Red Sea region has drawn increasing attention in light of the Houthi attacks and the damage they have caused to the freedom of global shipping in general and to Israel in particular. This is in addition to the impact of other escalating conflicts in the region, in which Israel is not directly involved, such as those in Sudan and Somalia. The intensification of these conflicts highlights the recognition that only through multilateral, regional, and international cooperation can the relevant challenges in the Red Sea be addressed....
Given Hezbollah’s increasing success in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the IDF’s limited success in intercepting them, we must ask whether the Israeli military is prepared to deal with a similar threat from unmanned systems in the maritime theater. Terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Houthis have started using these systems, which has created a new challenge for states and other international bodies. Currently, unmanned maritime systems (UMSs) are primarily used to protect ports, to SSW (subsea warfare), to...
Since the Hamas terror attack in the Negev on October 7 and the start of the war in Gaza, there have been escalating attacks by the Houthi terror organization, disrupting navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The stated aim of the organization, one of the most prominent Iranian proxies, is to harass and damage ships linked directly or indirectly to Israel, in response to Israel’s operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, most of the Houthi attacks so far have damaged ships that have no link to Israel. In view of the...
Underwater infrastructures are a rapidly evolving domain – worldwide, as well as in Israel. This developing phenomenon stems from the need to define and address the emergence of potential threats and disruptions endangering worldwide communication infrastructure. Such infrastructure can be differentiated by the depth of its deployment, and thus the investment in force buildup differs accordingly. Shallow water defense, up to 50 meters, draws most of the attention, while deeper deployed assets should be dealt with by intelligence and...
A bill regarding the formulation of a naval strategy to address the threat of maritime terrorism in the Middle East, currently before the US Congress, provides another opportunity for understanding the maritime arena as a significant element in Israel’s national strategy regarding the Iranian threat.
