Saudi Arabia appeals to Israel for help against Houthis – report

Saudi Arabia reportedly seeks Israeli help as Houthi advances in Yemen puts Red Sea chokepoint at risk.

By World Israel News Staff

Saudi Arabia has reportedly sought intelligence assistance from Israel as Riyadh scrambles to contain a rapid Houthi advance toward one of the world’s most important shipping routes, while the Trump administration weighs whether deteriorating conditions could eventually require direct US military intervention.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approached Israel indirectly through US Central Command, requesting intelligence and other assistance that could help prevent the Iran-backed Houthis from closing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Israel Hayom reported Sunday, citing diplomatic officials in the region.

The reported approach represents an unusual instance of behind-the-scenes cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which still do not have formal diplomatic relations.

According to the report, Riyadh has simultaneously appealed directly to Egypt and other Gulf states as it seeks regional support against the Houthis.

The Saudi effort comes after Houthi forces made their biggest territorial gains in years, seizing the strategic port of Mokha and Perim Island, also known as Mayun, which sits inside the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The advances have given the group an increasingly powerful position from which to threaten shipping between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The strait has become especially important because the continuing US-Iran war has already severely disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Saudi Arabia has increasingly depended on its East-West pipeline and Red Sea ports to bypass Hormuz and keep crude exports moving.

That alternative route is now under pressure as well.

Houthi drone attacks prompted Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut its East-West pipeline, which transports crude from the kingdom’s eastern oil-producing regions to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Reuters reported Monday that the outage threatens as much as 4% of global oil supply, while inventories at Yanbu were estimated to be sufficient for only five to seven days of exports.

Brent crude climbed more than 3% Monday to roughly $108 per barrel, with the combination of attacks on Saudi infrastructure and threats to shipping around both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb fueling renewed fears over global supplies.

The Saudi crown prince has warned regional governments that a Houthi blockade of Bab al-Mandeb would be far more than a Saudi problem, according to Israel Hayom. Riyadh has argued that disruption there could inflict severe damage on international trade and the broader global economy.

Egypt has a particularly strong interest in keeping the waterway open because ships passing through Bab al-Mandeb continue north through the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal, a major source of revenue for Cairo. Israel’s southern port of Eilat also depends on access through the same shipping corridor.

The reported overture to Israel follows a much more public Saudi appeal to Washington.

Bin Salman spoke with US President Donald Trump at least twice Thursday and sought American military assistance against the Houthis, three sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Trump did not agree to launch US strikes but Washington offered Riyadh intelligence sharing and targeting assistance.

CBS News reported that bin Salman personally pressed Trump for military action and that Saudi Arabia was trying to assemble a broader coalition against the Houthis. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia for coordination talks as the crisis deepened.

A senior Trump administration official told Reuters that Washington remained focused on “ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea” while allowing regional partners to take the leading role in dealing with local security threats.

For now, that has meant intelligence and targeting support rather than American bombs.

But US involvement could expand if the Houthis further militarize their new positions overlooking Bab al-Mandeb. Israel Hayom reported that Washington is considering possible airstrikes if the Houthis deploy missile launchers and radar systems capable of threatening international shipping from the areas they recently captured.

“The condition for that would be the deployment of radars and missile launchers in the captured positions,” an official familiar with the deliberations told the newspaper.

ABC News similarly reported that two US officials said there were no immediate plans for direct strikes but cautioned that the administration’s position could change if the threat to Red Sea shipping significantly worsens.

The shift in Saudi policy illustrates how dramatically the Yemen conflict has changed in recent weeks.

As recently as July, Riyadh was telling Washington that it could handle renewed fighting with the Houthis itself and urging the US to avoid a wider escalation. But the Houthis have since pushed rapidly down Yemen’s Red Sea coast while striking Saudi military installations, oil infrastructure and shipping.

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have suffered severe losses. The government-aligned National Resistance said more than 500 of its fighters had been killed on Yemen’s west coast over the past four weeks, while more than 82,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of September, according to the UN migration agency.

The Houthis on Sunday also claimed drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, including an assault on a military base near the Yemeni border. Saudi authorities sounded air-raid sirens in Abha and Khamis Mushait, while officials said a projectile blamed on the Houthis injured two people and damaged a mosque and other buildings near the border.

A former senior US official told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s approach to Washington was aimed at determining whether the US could increase military pressure so Riyadh would not have to confront the Houthis alone.

“So far, they’ve been told no, but watch that space,” the former official said.