Israel to lobby EU, UK to designate Houthis as terrorists

‘The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but to the region and the entire world,’ Sa’ar said in a statement.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has instructed Israeli diplomats to advocate for Yemen’s Houthi rebels to be designated as a terrorist organization in the European Union and United Kingdom.

The move comes against the backdrop of an escalation in missile and drone attacks by the Iranian proxy, officially known as Ansar Allah, with Tel Aviv and the center of the country being targeted multiple times in recent days.

On Monday, Israeli air defenses intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile before it entered Israeli airspace. The attack triggered sirens in central Israel, and a 60-year-woman was critically injured running to a bomb shelter.

MDA paramedics treated 25 people who were lightly hurt running to shelters or who suffered anxiety attacks.

Also on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces shot down a Houthi drone before it crossed into Israeli territory.

Overnight Friday, 16 people were lightly hurt when a Houthi missile slammed into a playground in Jaffa following a failed interception.

Before dawn on Thursday, the warhead of a partially intercepted missile collapsed the main building of an elementary school in Ramat Gan.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched over 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in support of Hamas since the terrorist invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The vast majority were intercepted outside of Israeli territory by Israel or the United States. The rebels have also disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, attacking merchant and naval ships.

“The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but to the region and the entire world,” Sa’ar said in a statement.

“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 most basic thing is to define them as a terrorist organization,” the statement continued.

In January, the Biden administration redesignated the Houthis as a terrorist group, having delisted the Iranian proxy shortly after Joe Biden took office, reversing a decision made by the Trump administration at the end of Trump’s first term.

In addition to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel classify the Houthis as a terrorist group.

Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, Sa’ar addressed Israel’s evolving relationship with the European Union.

“Following the conclusion of Josep Borrell’s term as the E.U.’s High Representative, there was a push to cancel the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement,” he said.

“Now, under the new high representative, Kaja Kallas, we have scheduled an Association Council meeting in Brussels in two months, which I will lead,” he said, adding, “This signals the beginning of a constructive dialogue with the E.U.”

The E.U. Foreign Affairs Council had decided to resume its Association Council meetings with Israel, Kallas said after meeting European foreign ministers on Dec. 16.

The E.U.-Israel Association Council, which last convened in 2022 during the premiership of Yair Lapid after a 10-year pause, is a meeting meant to be held annually between Jerusalem and the foreign ministers of all 27 member states of the European Union to discuss matters of mutual concern.

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