Houthis: Saudi Arabia must pay $51 billion to stop our attacks

An expert warns that appeasing the Houthis could encourage further military escalation and financial demands.

By World Israel News Staff

Yemen’s Houthi terror group is demanding that Saudi Arabia pay a staggering $51 billion in exchange for a commitment to halt attacks on the Gulf kingdom, including strikes targeting critical infrastructure such as airports and oil refineries, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The demand marks a new development in more than a decade of conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has backed Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which has been fighting to maintain control of the country against the Iran-backed terror group.

Maged Al-Madhaji, co-founder of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, told the Journal that while Saudi Arabia could afford the staggering sum, agreeing to the demand could be perceived as rewarding Houthi aggression.

“The Houthis are demanding a great deal, and in my assessment, the financial element may be the least significant concern for the Saudis,” Al-Madhaji told the Journal.

“The bigger problem is establishing a precedent whereby the group can escalate militarily whenever it wants additional concessions or money,” he added.

Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Houthis has so far failed to stop the group’s attacks. Despite numerous Saudi airstrikes targeting Houthi positions, the terror group has continued to launch attacks against Saudi territory and infrastructure.

The Houthis “present the Saudi leadership with few viable military options against an adversary that is well-entrenched, dug in, and has far less to lose from a grinding war of attrition,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen of Rice University’s Baker Institute told the Journal.

Ulrichsen added that the attacks pose a growing challenge to Saudi Arabia’s economic ambitions, particularly its efforts to attract foreign investment and establish itself as a regional business hub.

“The imbalance of risk between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia is even greater now than it was in the earlier period of conflict between 2015 and 2022, as the impact of the strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure undermines investor confidence,” he said.