Jolyon@jolyon

Follow

Haykel on Israel Saudi Houthis offer

The pitch is straightforward: Israel offers to serve as Saudi Arabia's security partner against the Houthis, with Iron Dome batteries and air cover on the table. Bernard Haykel, who teaches at Princeton and focuses on the Middle East, says that proposal is real. What Riyadh has done is turn it down, and the reasons run in two directions. Gaza weighs on the decision, and so does the track record: Israel has struck the Houthis before without changing much on the ground. Haykel's comparison to Hezbollah is where the offer really runs aground. Against Hezbollah, Israel had decades of infiltration work behind it before it could take the leadership apart piece by piece. Yemen has no such groundwork. Nobody knows where the Houthi leadership is, which makes the whole idea of an Israeli intervention hard to take seriously. In his words: "The idea that the Israelis can come in and make a radical difference in the outcome of this war is a bunch of baloney." Meanwhile Riyadh isn't sitting still. Interceptor systems have come from Greece. Ukrainian anti-drone equipment is guarding Saudi tankers. All told, the kingdom is pulling its defensive shield together from around a dozen suppliers. An Israeli flag planted over that arrangement wouldn't strengthen it. It would hand the Houthis their most effective recruiting tool yet.

1h

Jolyon@jolyon

Follow

Haykel on Israel Saudi Houthis offer

The pitch is straightforward: Israel offers to serve as Saudi Arabia's security partner against the Houthis, with Iron Dome batteries and air cover on the table. Bernard Haykel, who teaches at Princeton and focuses on the Middle East, says that proposal is real. What Riyadh has done is turn it down, and the reasons run in two directions. Gaza weighs on the decision, and so does the track record: Israel has struck the Houthis before without changing much on the ground. Haykel's comparison to Hezbollah is where the offer really runs aground. Against Hezbollah, Israel had decades of infiltration work behind it before it could take the leadership apart piece by piece. Yemen has no such groundwork. Nobody knows where the Houthi leadership is, which makes the whole idea of an Israeli intervention hard to take seriously. In his words: "The idea that the Israelis can come in and make a radical difference in the outcome of this war is a bunch of baloney." Meanwhile Riyadh isn't sitting still. Interceptor systems have come from Greece. Ukrainian anti-drone equipment is guarding Saudi tankers. All told, the kingdom is pulling its defensive shield together from around a dozen suppliers. An Israeli flag planted over that arrangement wouldn't strengthen it. It would hand the Houthis their most effective recruiting tool yet.

1h