Who needs Ansar Allah?

Ansar Allah, better known in the West as the Houthis. A movement consisting of Zaydi Shia Muslims – not to be confused with Twelver Shia Muslims you will find in Iran and Lebanon – named after the name of the Houthi clan. Of course, some kind of personality cult needs to be created. In Iran you will apparently find the faces of Khomeini and Khamenei plastered wherever you go, there is no escaping them. In Lebanon, you will find Nasrallah’s face in Shia neighborhoods, towns, and villages. In Iraq, you used to find massive portraits of dictator Saddam Hussein when he still ruled and in Syria it used to be the Assad family. So, in “Houthiland” it has to be a Houthi family member, in this case its leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi – another bunker dweller.

The leader of this movement is responsible for the unilateral declaration of war by Ansar Allah on Israel, when it entered the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, by disrupting Red Sea shipping and launching drones and missiles at Israel. Of course, they never officially declared war – Iran’s proxies never do – but we know that the regional escalation was caused by Hezbollah and the Houthis, not when Israel started responding to their attacks. The Houthis continue their attacks to this day and my aunt and two of my cousins were at Ben Gurion Airport, when a ballistic missile struck its grounds. They were unharmed luckily, but several people were injured. So, my question is, who needs Ansar Allah?

An economy in tatters

The Yemeni civil war has raged for years. During the course of this war, the Houthis became a powerful force and Ansar Allah curses Jews in its slogan, as well as wishes death upon Israel – for good measure, anti-Israel Jews are told that they are not wanted either. After a marriage of convenience with former Yemeni President Saleh, a man the Houthis accused of corruption and would finally assassinate after he tried to drop them in favor of a rapprochement with the Saudi-led coalition which supported the government against the Houthis, the movement controls roughly a third of the country, including the capital Sanaa. After Yemen’s economy suffered critical blows in the first years of the civil war, which was, among other factors, a consequence of the Saudi-imposed blockade on the country according to the Brookings Institution, the Saudi coalition ceased its operations in 2022. It was seen as a victory for the Houthis, as numerous airstrikes had failed to dislodge them from the capital and they remained in control of key areas of Yemen. For a group without a navy or air force, this was an impressive achievement. However, Iranian involvement was by then suspected, as the Houthis had the ability to launch missiles and drones deep into Saudi territory and even managed to hit the UAE, another coalition member. By 2022, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis had died due to the war, famine had gripped large parts of the population and the Houthi “victory” did not mean an end to the war. To this day, the Houthis still control a third of the country, but the rest of the territory is controlled by forces loyal to the internationally recognized government (IRG). So, while the Houthis control vital locations, such as the capital and the port of Hodeidah, they are by no means in control of the entire country.

Since then, the state of the Yemeni economy has only worsened. This, of course, is not simply the fault of the Houthis, as forces loyal the government have been accused of ignorance at best and corruption at worst. However, targeting Red Sea shipping by the Houthis has only exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. Moreover, the Houthis are in a league of their own: intimidation and imprisonment of aid workers – apparently meant to control all foreign aid, so they can divert these resources to their war effort – recruiting child soldiers, the torture and killing of any Yemenis who oppose them, and the targeting of oil facilities in the government-controlled south, which has brought disaster on Yemenis living there. The severe damage caused by the Houthi oil blockade is confirmed by the World Bank and the IMF.

Despite all of this tragedy and hardship that has been caused by the civil war, there does not seem to be any shortage of weapons in Houthiland, as numerous pictures show a proliferation of AK47s and rifles among the population. Indeed, they have clearly prioritized guns over butter – though, I cannot imagine that Abdulmalik al-Houthi misses any meals. In addition, Ansar Allah is responsible for the rape and abuse of women by their morality police and human trafficking, yet in Houthiland children are taught to revere their military, political, and spiritual leader. Indeed, children are recorded yelling at the top of their lungs that they are ready to die for Abdulmalik, followed by the Ansar Allah slogan. Because, of course, the reason that they have next to nothing is due to the Jews, courtesy of filling children’s heads with Jewish conspiracy theories. The Jews, the eternal bogeyman and scapegoat, are responsible for the Yemeni malaise, not its own leaders. Even though nearly the entire Jewish community has left Yemen – because the Houthis took antisemitism to the next level, yet it has been a fixture of Yemeni society for much longer – that still does not prevent the Houthis from blaming the Jews for every ill in the world. Considering all of these factors, I would argue that Yemenis do not need Ansar Allah, except for Abdulmalik al-Houthi himself and an inner circle that profits from the movement.

Being a member of the Iranian axis

The other obvious actor that profits from this danse macabre is certainly Iran. As a surprisingly resilient component of its so-called “resistance axis,” the Houthis have proven to be capable of damaging Israel, serve as a security threat on Saudi Arabia’s southern border, and have the ability to blackmail the international community by targeting shipping in the Red Sea. For the Iranians, the Houthis are a useful tool to safeguard and potentially expand their interests in the Gulf. Though the Iranian regime keeps arguing that they have no control over the Houthis, nor are they arming them, these claims rings hollow. Throughout the years, Twelver Shiism has been gaining ground in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, exemplified by the celebration of Ashura. Secondly, studies of fragments of Houthi missiles have shown that they have been produced in Iran or contain Iranian components. Thirdly, in 2018 an article in a West Point magazine argued that Ansar Allah used the same tactics in its war against the Saudi-led coalition, as Hezbollah did in its attacks on Israel. Fourthly, they entered the war, just as Hezbollah, to come to the aid of another Iranian proxy. Finally, because the Houthis have become rather skilled at countering their adversaries’ air superiority, it is an asset that Iran could use for many years to come.

Ansar Allah and the Middle East

Domestically and regionally, the Houthis know very well that attacking Israel will lead to more prestige in the region. If you would like to garner support in the Arab world, you need to engage Israel. For instance, Saddam recovered some of his prestige after invading Kuwait during the Gulf War, when he decided to launch Scud missiles at Israel, after the US had defeated him in the small, oil-rich state; Nasrallah’s popularity in the Arab world soared after Israel retreated from Lebanon in 2000; and Hamas’ popularity increased, after October 7^th. Therefore, pretending to aid the Palestinians can lead to several benefits. First of all, the Houthis’ ascendancy coincided with its fierce anti-Israel rhetoric during the Second Intifada. Now it is, once again, trying to build political capital, by attacking Israeli cities and forcing its residents to take cover in shelters. Moreover, the Houthis might count on breaking the stalemate in the Yemeni civil war, hoping that attacking Israel might boost its support in their own territory – which seems to have succeeded – and potentially in IRG-controlled territory as well, potentially leading to the Houthis conquering all of Yemen.

Extremist sympathizers in the West

Finally, the Houthis have received more sympathy in a part of the world that I think has even exceeded their wildest expectations. Indeed, I am quite sure that far-right extremists, such as Nick Fuentes and David Duke and his ilk, are more than grateful for the destruction and even death the Houthis have managed to inflict on Israel – you know, the type of torch-bearing people who marched through Charlottesville in 2017, shouting that Jews would not replace them. However, we should not forget the Western far left in this either. When a couple of students started praising Ansar Allah for disrupting shipping, it was very clear how narrow-minded they are. The hatred on display against Israel, the call for it to be replaced, and the perpetual obsession with American influence, real as well as perceived, has caused these students and activists to blindly support anyone who attacks the “Zionist entity.”

This leads to rather comical tableaus, such as ostensibly progressive students, chanting and asking Yemen to make them proud – of course, Houthis do not represent all of Yemen, so that is mistake number one. Secondly, it remains ludicrous that progressives have no issue praising a man who represents an aristocracy, who considers it the people’s duty to sacrifice themselves for him, which shows that they do not even understand the values they claim to espouse. One of the oddest examples would have to be Jackson Hinkle, the well-known provocateur and conspiracy theorist, a curious blend of far-right and far-left sympathies. When you see an American Communist from San Clemente, California standing in Sanaa and praising God in front of a Houthi crowd, you cannot help but chuckle. By the way, Hinkle’s little Middle East tour consisted of him visiting the Houthis, attending Nasrallah’s funeral in Beirut, and touring the charming little state of…Qatar. So, yes, apparently a substantial number of far-right and far-left extremists in the West need Ansar Allah as well.

Ansar Allah: sacrificing Yemen for Houthi dreams

Yemeni-Swedish activist Luai Ahmed has argued that the Houthis are insane. Considering their track record, he may well be right. However, I would argue that the Houthis are just another example of a group willing to ruthlessly destroy their own, in order to further their interests. They wish to build a dictatorial regime, which has already been implemented in the Yemeni territory they control. This is exhibited by their desire to control aid, to brainwash children from a young age with Jewish conspiracy theories and devotion to the Houthi leadership, and by restricting Yemenis’ freedom. Of course, the Houthis are not interested in governance or building a free and prosperous society. Under the guise of combating corruption and ostensibly supporting the Palestinians – while, of course, it simply wishes to aid Hamas, the other link in the Iranian axis – it seemingly intends to build a theocracy in Yemen, where Abdulmalik al-Houthi is revered by all. The choice to keep attacking Israel is very shrewd as well, considering that attacking Israel will pay welcome dividends, such as boosting its popularity at home, in the Middle East, and even in the West.

Furthermore, it is capable of surviving a bombing campaign, as it proved in its war with the Saudi-led coalition. Considering that Israel or a coalition of states led by the US will not be interested in fighting a ground war against the Houthis, they know that they will simply have to weather the storm. In the end, the Houthis will survive, be able to denounce the so-called “aggression” against them, despite the fact that they initiate hostilities, and claim “victory,” just as Hezbollah and Hamas have always done. They will boost their image, by claiming that they have defeated the United States – which they already have done, after President Trump announced an end to the American bombing campaign – and they will do the same with Israel. Moreover, the Shiite member of the Iranian axis is exhibiting pragmatism, as it has been forging ties with al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab, the group that has repeatedly conducted terror attacks in Somalia and could potentially even threaten Somaliland. Indeed, it is in contact with Islamic State in the Horn of Africa as well, because in this case, the enemies of my enemies – i.e., Israel and the United States – are my, albeit temporary, friends.

In short, who needs a movement that is only interested in war, oppressing fellow Yemenis, teaching children to become future cannon fodder for a “glorious” leader, and spreading antisemitism? No one, except for the Houthi leadership itself, the Iranian regime, several terror groups, and a bunch of Western extremists.