Lazar Berman
Times of Israel, May 7, 2025
“With Israel on the sidelines, the president could suddenly announce a deal with Iran that leaves its nuclear program intact. Israel would find itself isolated, and unlike in the Houthi case, it would be inconceivable that it would attack Iran after an agreement with Trump.”
The Israeli Air Force struck Houthi-controlled infrastructure on Tuesday as its planes flattened the airport in Sanaa, a day after Israeli jets pounded the port city of Hodeida.
Then, US President Donald Trump dropped his own bombshell.
Without coordinating with Israel or other allies, he announced during a White House meeting that the Houthis had agreed to stop attacking shipping lanes in the Red Sea, and said that the US would halt its attacks on the Iran-backed group.
The Houthis, meanwhile, declared they would keep hitting Israel. As if to emphasize the point, a drone believed to have been launched from Yemen flew toward Israel early Wednesday before being intercepted by the IAF.
If the agreement holds — and that is an extremely uncertain proposition — Israel, it seems, is on its own in the fight against the Houthis.
“President Trump’s decision to halt attacks against the Houthis effectively leaves Israel alone in the campaign against the Yemeni terrorist organization,” said Danny Citrinowicz, research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. ...SOURCE