Huckabee: US ‘isn’t required to get permission from Israel’ to cut deal with Houthis
Amid shock in Israel at Trump’s deal with Yemeni terror group, ambassador indicates in TV interview that US will only respond to Houthi attacks on Israel if American citizens hurt
The United States’ actions against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Israel depend on whether they harm American citizens, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in an interview, part of which was broadcast by Channel 12 news on Thursday.
“The United States isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make some type of arrangement that would get the Houthis from firing on our ships,” Huckabee said in a clip from the full interview, set to air on the Israeli network this weekend.
His comments followed US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Tuesday of a bilateral ceasefire agreement between the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and the US, after which the rebel group vowed to continue its attacks on Israel.
Israel was not told in advance about the agreement, officials said. It was announced by Trump two days after a Houthi missile impacted the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport, a few hundred yards from the main control tower, lightly injuring several people and prompting most foreign airlines to halt flights to Israel.
The former Arkansas governor told Channel 12 that his understanding of US policy on the issue came after speaking with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
“Here’s what I can tell you, because I had a conversation with both the president and the vice president last night,” Huckabee said. He added: “There’s 700,000 Americans living in Israel. If the Houthis want to continue doing things to Israel and they hurt an American, then it becomes our business.”
Asked by Channel 12 to clarify whether he meant that the US would only intervene to fight the rebel group if a US citizen was hurt by a Houthi missile, the ambassador said, “It’s a matter of what becomes our immediate business.”
His remarks echoed those made by Trump, who, when asked about the Houthis pledging to continue attacking Israel notwithstanding their agreement with the US, responded, “I’ll discuss that if something happens.”
On Wednesday, the Houthis fired a drone at Israel, which was intercepted.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews” — have been firing at Israel and on shipping routes in the Red Sea since November 2023, saying that they are doing so in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza amid the war there, which erupted when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Houthi attacks on commercial shipping largely ceased six months ago, though this was after many international companies rerouted their vessels to avoid the Red Sea. Attacks on Israel and other military targets were halted for several weeks earlier this year, but restarted when a ceasefire in Gaza collapsed in early March.
The US intensified strikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis earlier this year to stop attacks on Red Sea shipping, after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
The US military says that it has struck more than 1,000 targets since March 15, when it launched its operation, dubbed Operation Rough Rider. The strikes, it said, have killed “hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders.”
On April 28, a suspected US airstrike hit a migrant center in Yemen, and Houthi TV says 68 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in six weeks of intensified US strikes.
Tensions have risen between Israel and the Houthis in recent days, after the Houthi ballistic missile landed in the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting sweeping Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port and other Houthi infrastructure targets on Monday.
The strikes were followed on Tuesday by further attacks that the Israeli military said had “completely disabled” Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-controlled capital.
Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.