Israel wrestles with the Houthi threat: Gantz calls to strike Iran, while FM Sa’ar pushes worldwide terror designation

Amid escalating attacks from Houthi terrorists in Yemen in recent weeks, which persist despite intensified Israeli and U.S. strikes, Israeli leaders are wrestling with how to effectively combat the threat posed by the Iranian-backed militia.

On Monday, National Unity party leader Benny Gantz declared that Israel should target Iran directly, aiming for the head of its proxy-militia octopus rather than its tentacles.

“The solution to putting an end to the attacks lies in Tehran,” Gantz, former defense minister and IDF chief, told the press ahead of his party’s faction meeting in the Israeli Knesset.

“Today, we have the opportunity to catalyze a ‘strategic flip’ against Iran and its proxies. We must capitalize on the opportunity. It would be a strategic mistake of historic proportion not to,” he added.

According to Israeli media reports, the question of how to respond to the Houthi attacks has been hotly debated among the security system’s top brass in recent days. Mossad Director David Barnea reportedly also advises to strike at Iran.

Israeli officials believe the Iranian leadership believes Israel agreed to the ceasefire with Hezbollah in order to be able to focus on directly attacking Iran, Channel 12 News reported. Iran is now expecting an Israeli attack, and weighing a potential response, the report added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, threatened more direct attacks on the Houthis, warning that Israel “will hit the strategic infrastructure of the Houthi terrorist organization and cut off the heads of its leaders - just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah – in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon. This is what we will do in Hodeidah and Sana’a as well.”

Recounting how Israel “defeated” Hamas and Hezbollah while depriving Iran of its air defense and “overthrowing” the Assad regime in Syria, Katz vowed, “We will also severely cripple the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last one standing.”

The Houthi attacks have so far persisted over the past year, and even increased in recent weeks, despite the U.S.-led coalition aiming to end their attacks, particularly on international shipping via the Red Sea.

The Wall Street Journal cited a U.S. defense official saying that about 450 Houthi drones have been shot down so far. The Houthis are “sinking ships and killing civilian mariners that are in no way related to Israel or Gaza, and even attacking vessels delivering crucial food and humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen,” U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Sean Savett said.

The coalition managed to suppress some anti-ship missile attacks, Savett added and has been attempting to put diplomatic pressure and implement sanctions to end weapon supplies to the group, most of them being supplied from Iran.

According to a UN report in November, “The scale, nature and extent of transfers of diverse military materiel and technology provided to the Houthis from external sources, including financial support and training of its combatants, is unprecedented.”

After the latest ballistic missile attack on Israel early on Tuesday morning, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed Israel’s diplomatic missions in Europe to begin a campaign pushing for the designation of the Houthis, also called “Ansar Allah,” as a terrorist organization.

“This is an emissary of the Iranian regime that uses the Houthis to continue destabilizing the region,” according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“As stated several times in the official reports of the Security Council, the Houthis rely on the active assistance of the Iranian regime which finances, arms, equips and provides the Houthis with operational assistance.”

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have already been declared a terrorist organization in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel.

“The Houthis are a threat not only to Israel but to the region and the entire world. The direct threat to freedom of navigation in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes is a challenge to the international community and the world order. The first and basic thing is to define them as a terrorist organization,” Sa’ar stated.