Published in the Jerusalem Post, 10 January 2021, and in the Jerusalem Post on-line as: "Israel-Arab normalization to have impact on Yemen war":
In this new era of Israeli-Arab normalization, Israel has an even more direct interest than it always had in the outcome of the decades-long civil conflict in Yemen. Two of the main players on the ground are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is an original signatory of the Abraham Accords and, if the grapevine is to be believed, Saudi Arabia is an imminent prospect.
At the
start of 2020 the unhappy war-torn state of Yemen was split four
ways. Not only were rival governments – one backed by the Saudi-UAE
coalition, the other by the Iranian-supported Houthis – fighting for control of the country as a whole, but
South Yemen had seceded from the north and declared self-rule. To further
complicate the situation, the south Yemen separatists were supported by the UAE
‒ which was odd, because the UAE was also battling the Houthis on behalf of
Yemen’s government led by President Abdrabbu Mansur Hadi, which condemned the separatist
move as "catastrophic and dangerous".
Israel has never
involved itself directly in the conflict, but those elements of the media none too
friendly toward Israel maintain that it has been providing logistical support
for the coalition established by Saudi in 2015 to counter the Houthis’ effort to
take over the country.
The Middle East Monitor
also maintains that when Houthi forces seized the Saudi Arabian embassy in
the capital Sanaa, documents were discovered revealing US intentions to
establish a military base on Yemen’s Perim Island near the Bab El-Mandab
Strait, "to protect [America's] interests and ensure the security of
Israel". The Bab El-Mandab Strait
is the narrow gateway out of the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden, and in fact the
strategically important island was wrested from the Houthis in 2015 and has
remained under the control of the coalition ever since. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE view the
Strait as of key strategic importance in ensuring access to the Indian ocean
and beyond. All consider it vital to
prevent the Strait falling into the hands of Iran’s proxy, the Houthis.
South Yemen’s unilateral
declaration of independence did not come out of the blue. For more than 20 years the People's Republic
of Southern Yemen was an independent Marxist–Leninist one-party
state, supported by the Soviet Union.
Relations between the two Yemens deteriorated, and in 1972 they took up
arms against each other. In 1990, with the collapse of the Soviet Union
imminent, South Yemen united with the north to form the Unified Republic of
Yemen. Ali Abdallah Saleh, who had been president of North Yemen since 1978,
was proclaimed president.
It was an uneasy
marriage. After only four years, the
south tried to break away again. A
short civil war ended with the south being overrun by northern troops.
Saleh became a victim of
the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. He gave up the keys of office to Hadi with a
very bad grace, and allied himself with his erstwhile enemies, the Houthis, in
an attempt to maneuver his way back to power. Supported with military hardware
from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Houthis overran large tracts of the
country, including the capital city, Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia, determined
to prevent Iran from extending its footprint into the Arabian peninsula,
intervened in March 2015 to beat them back. Saudi’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman,
assembled a coalition of Arab states, obtained the diplomatic backing of the
US, UK, Turkey and Pakistan, and launched a series of air strikes against the
rebels.
The unconventional
Saleh-Houthi partnership came to an abrupt end on December 2, 2017, when Saleh
went on television to declare that he was ready to enter into dialogue with the
Saudi-led coalition. This volte-face was to end in tragedy. On
December 4, Saleh's house in Sana'a was besieged by Houthi fighters. Attempting
to escape, he was killed.
Once ignited, the yearning for self-determination is not easily extinguished. South Yemen’s aspirations for a return to autonomy remained strong. In 2017-18 south Yemen leaders tried again. Hadi had re-located his internationally recognized government to Aden. But Aden is the focal point of south Yemen, and Aden’s governor was a strong supporter of the southern separatists. When Hadi sacked him, he promptly joined the rebels and helped set up the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a body designed to administer Yemen’s southern provinces.
It was on the basis of
that agreement that a power sharing government was formed a year later, on December
18, 2020. It contained 24 ministers selected on equal
basis between northern and southern provinces and included five ministers from
the STC.
Sworn in on December 26
in Riyadh, four days later most of the new cabinet, including the prime
minister, boarded a plane to fly to Aden.
A large crowd gathered to greet them.
As the passengers began to disembark, massive explosions were heard
followed by gunfire emanating from armored vehicles. At least 25 people were
killed and 110 others injured. Most of
the casualties were civilians, including airport staff. Although no group has claimed responsibility,
the coalition later said it had shot down an explosive-laden Houthi drone that
was targeting the presidential palace.
That incident was closely followed by another. On New Year’s Day a projectile exploded at a wedding held in the port city of Hodeidah, 160 miles north of the Bab El-Mandab Strait. Five women were killed and seven wounded. A UN representative called it “an odious crime committed by the Houthis against civilians”.
As long as Iran’s
malevolent involvement persists, no end seems in sight to Yemen’s civil
conflict. A determination to frustrate
Iran’s aspiration to dominate the Middle East is one element uniting Israel and
the Arab signatories to the Abraham Accords.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/08012021-normalization-and-the-turmoil-in-yemen-oped/
https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2021/01/08/normalization-and-the-turmoil-in-yemen/
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