With the outbreak of the "Iron Swords" war, the Houthis began attacking targets in Israel using UAVs and ballistic missiles, mainly out of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and with the aim of easing their situation by diverting the IDF’s attention. The Houthis adopted a tactic of launching ballistic missiles or UAVs randomly and around the clock. In addition, they imposed a blockade on Israeli ships or ships connected to Israel passing through the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab strait, effectively paralyzing the port of Eilat and disrupting global maritime trade.
The Houthis' fire toward Israel is an act of terrorism. Lacking the ability to strike high-value targets, the intention behind the launches is to harm, harass, and instill fear in Israeli civilians. The Houthis boast of their ability to send millions of "terrified Zionists" into shelters, thereby also causing economic damage.
Israel's response so far has included Air Force strikes targeting ports, Sana'a airport, and infrastructure. The damage, according to the Houthi leadership, is estimated at $1.4 billion. However, this has not stopped the continued drizzle of ballistic missiles and UAVs toward Israeli territory.
A sovereign state cannot tolerate a daily drizzle of ballistic missiles and a maritime siege. The challenge lies in overcoming a stealthy, fortified enemy located roughly 2,000 kilometers from Israel’s borders. The principle of this confrontation is to create a deterrence balance in which the damage inflicted on Yemen’s leaders and citizens outweighs any benefit derived from launching attacks against Israel. Currently, no such balance exists, and the present strike strategy is ineffective, as Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. Attacks on civilian infrastructure have minimal impact on its already low standard of living and do not deter its leadership.
To establish a deterrence balance, potential threats must be eliminated through preemptive strikes. This should be done by implementing a counterstrike strategy targeting strategic assets, using game-changing weapons such as heavy bunker-busting bombs and long-range ballistic missiles, carrying out attacks from different and unexpected directions, and utilizing naval strike platforms. Subsequently, a campaign of sustained, focused strikes should be launched against weapon depots, storage facilities, and command and control centers. Simultaneously, targeted strikes should be carried out against symbols of governance: government headquarters, regime officials, communication centers, and economic sites that serve as levers of control and financial engines for funding terrorism. Continued operations should aim to prevent the rehabilitation of damaged sites, and strikes on ports and airports should be executed to impose a maritime and aerial blockade.
It is reasonable to assume that scenes of destruction will resonate across Yemen (and the Middle East) and will compel the Houthi leadership to reassess the cost-benefit equation of harassing Israeli citizens. Then, the late Moshe Dayan’s words may come true:
"We have the power to set a high price for our blood — a price too costly for the Arab governments to afford."
With the outbreak of the "Iron Swords" war, the Houthis began attacking targets in Israel using UAVs and ballistic missiles, mainly out of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and with the aim of easing their situation by diverting the IDF’s attention. The Houthis adopted a tactic of launching ballistic missiles or UAVs randomly and around the clock. In addition, they imposed a blockade on Israeli ships or ships connected to Israel passing through the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab strait, effectively paralyzing the port of Eilat and disrupting global maritime trade.
The Houthis' fire toward Israel is an act of terrorism. Lacking the ability to strike high-value targets, the intention behind the launches is to harm, harass, and instill fear in Israeli civilians. The Houthis boast of their ability to send millions of "terrified Zionists" into shelters, thereby also causing economic damage.
Israel's response so far has included Air Force strikes targeting ports, Sana'a airport, and infrastructure. The damage, according to the Houthi leadership, is estimated at $1.4 billion. However, this has not stopped the continued drizzle of ballistic missiles and UAVs toward Israeli territory.
A sovereign state cannot tolerate a daily drizzle of ballistic missiles and a maritime siege. The challenge lies in overcoming a stealthy, fortified enemy located roughly 2,000 kilometers from Israel’s borders. The principle of this confrontation is to create a deterrence balance in which the damage inflicted on Yemen’s leaders and citizens outweighs any benefit derived from launching attacks against Israel. Currently, no such balance exists, and the present strike strategy is ineffective, as Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. Attacks on civilian infrastructure have minimal impact on its already low standard of living and do not deter its leadership.
To establish a deterrence balance, potential threats must be eliminated through preemptive strikes. This should be done by implementing a counterstrike strategy targeting strategic assets, using game-changing weapons such as heavy bunker-busting bombs and long-range ballistic missiles, carrying out attacks from different and unexpected directions, and utilizing naval strike platforms. Subsequently, a campaign of sustained, focused strikes should be launched against weapon depots, storage facilities, and command and control centers. Simultaneously, targeted strikes should be carried out against symbols of governance: government headquarters, regime officials, communication centers, and economic sites that serve as levers of control and financial engines for funding terrorism. Continued operations should aim to prevent the rehabilitation of damaged sites, and strikes on ports and airports should be executed to impose a maritime and aerial blockade.
It is reasonable to assume that scenes of destruction will resonate across Yemen (and the Middle East) and will compel the Houthi leadership to reassess the cost-benefit equation of harassing Israeli citizens. Then, the late Moshe Dayan’s words may come true:
"We have the power to set a high price for our blood — a price too costly for the Arab governments to afford."