As the Houthis, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s terror proxy in Yemen, expands its regional campaign by threatening to close Bab-al-Mandab, a vital chokepoint for Red Sea shipping, and by attacking Saudi Arabian territory, it is important to note that these are not isolated incidents. They are part of a wider pattern of Houthi threats and attacks against Israel, the United States and their regional allies, which stems from an ideology rooted in antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
The Houthis’ official slogan declares: “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, A curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.” ADL has documented how antisemitism, anti-Americanism and calls for Israel’s destruction have been central to Houthi ideology and political identity since the movement’s emergence in the early 1990s.
In July, the group declared a maritime embargo against Saudi shipping and threatened to close Bab al-Mandab, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It has also launched missiles and drones at Saudi cities, airports, energy facilities and shipping. In September, Saudi authorities said they intercepted a Houthi drone near Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, an allegation the Houthis denied.
Their rule has imposed grave costs on ordinary Yemenis. In a 2018 analysis, Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy documented Houthi obstruction and diversion of humanitarian aid, as well as taxation that drove up food and fuel costs in Houthi-controlled areas, compounding Yemen’s famine crisis.
Analysts have identified an eschatological, or end-times, worldview in Houthi ideology. In the prophecy that informs this worldview, the Mahdi is expected to appear before Judgment Day, lead an army to conquer Jerusalem, establish an Islamic caliphate and prepare for Jesus’ return. The Houthis frame the expulsion of the United States from the Middle East, Israel’s destruction and a Jerusalem-centered Islamic order as religious objectives within this broader narrative, and see themselves as helping to advance it.
These beliefs provide the ideological underpinning for Houthi cooperation with the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, as well as the group’s attacks on Israeli territory, commercial shipping and U.S. forces in support of the wider Iranian regime proxy network that includes Hamas.
Within 12 days of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the Houthis began their first direct attacks on Israeli cities, launching missiles and drones toward Israeli territory. The attacks demonstrated that the movement was prepared to join the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regional network of armed groups in a campaign of cumulative pressure on Israel after the October 7 attacks, that Hezbollah framed at the time as a war of attrition intended to destroy Israel.
Houthi leaders routinely justify this military posture with explicit antisemitic incitement. In an April 16, 2026 speech, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the region would not stabilize until “the Jews are defeated and expelled from Palestine.” He asserted that “Zionist Jews” have an “aggressive tendency,” blamed regional evil on “those Jews and their helpers” and portrayed “Zionist Jews and their weapons” as a danger to Lebanon, Muslim peoples and global security and stability.
Not only do the Houthis pose a threat to Israel, but they also actively threaten and persecute Jewish people. Throughout their rise to power, they have systemically harassed, arrested, and forcibly expelled the remaining Jews in Yemen. This targeted campaign of violence and economic pressure has driven almost the entire ancient Jewish population out of the country.
From Yemeni Insurgency to Iranian Regime-Aligned Regional Force
The Houthis’ rise into a regional military threat was built on sustained, concerted assistance from Hezbollah and Tehran. Hezbollah’s advisory role appears to date to at least 2012, with support intensifying as the Houthis expanded their control in Yemen. A 2021 analysis by Matthew Levitt of the Middle East Institute cites U.S. State Department reporting that Hezbollah had dispatched trusted commanders to Yemen to provide the Houthis with training, materiel and personnel alongside officers from the Iranian regime’s IRGC Quds Force. Levitt further reported that, by 2015, senior Hezbollah officials oversaw activities in Yemen, including financial transfers and coordination with Iranian regime officials. In the spring of 2015, Hezbollah deployed a senior commander to strengthen Houthi guerrilla training.
This mentorship helped transform the Houthis from a local insurgency into a “southern Hezbollah” capable of threatening Saudi Arabia, launching missiles and drones toward Israel, targeting U.S. forces and disrupting maritime commerce.
Bab al-Mandab as a Second Iranian Regime Pressure Point
The continuing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz has curtailed oil exports from the Gulf and driven up global energy prices. A Houthi closure of Bab al-Mandab would compound this disruption by threatening another vital maritime route for oil and commercial shipping.
Strategically, threats to close Bab al-Mandab therefore give the Houthis and the Iranian regime significant leverage over the international community. Disruption would constrain Saudi Arabia’s ability to use its East-West Pipeline to route oil through Red Sea terminals and bypass the Strait of Hormuz, particularly for shipments headed to Asia. It would also threaten traffic bound for Egypt’s Suez Canal, Israel and Jordan’s Red Sea ports and the wider Europe-Asia trade corridor. By placing both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab at risk, the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Houthi proxies can amplify pressure on regional governments, global energy markets and international maritime commerce in pursuit of Tehran’s regional objectives.
In late March 2026, Houthi military official Abed al-Thawr said the group could use the “trump card” of closing Bab al-Mandab to American and Israeli ships, alongside a naval and air blockade of Israel and the United States, if the conflict involving the Islamic Republic of Iran escalated. Days later, a Houthi official warned that the strait could be closed if any Gulf states directly joined military operations supporting Israel or the United States.
In July, the Iranian regime reportedly asked the Houthis to prepare to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States struck Iranian power infrastructure. In response, the Houthis reportedly deployed missiles and drones near Bab al-Mandab, Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden while awaiting further instructions.
These threats are motivated by the Houthis’ longstanding ideological priors: antisemitism, anti-Americanism, calls for Israel’s destruction and an already brutal, messianic mission to reshape the Middle East. The movement’s integration into the Iranian regime’s regional network has expanded the reach of those beliefs, enabling threats that extend from Israeli territory and U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia and one of the world’s most consequential maritime chokepoints.
Understanding the antisemitic ideology behind the Houthis is essential to understanding the movement’s ambitions, the narratives it uses to mobilize supporters, and the danger posed when such ideas are paired with increasingly sophisticated military capabilities and Iranian support.