From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Navy chief says Israel won’t allow freedom of action at sea to be threatened, in apparent warning to Turkey, Houthis
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
In a message apparently aimed at Turkey and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, Israeli Navy chief Vice Adm. Eyal Harel says Israel will not allow any threat to its freedom of action at sea by those seeking to “change the balance of power in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.”
“In the new maritime arena, there is no longer any distant front,” Harel says at a Navy officers’ graduation ceremony.
“To anyone seeking to challenge the State of Israel from the maritime and distant arena, I say from here: distance will not provide immunity to anyone seeking to harm us. The Navy was built to bring the power of the State of Israel and the IDF to anyone seeking to challenge it from thousands of miles away,” he says.
Harel addresses “anyone seeking to change the balance of power in the Mediterranean and Red Seas,” saying that “we see the actions, monitor them and prepare for them.”
“The Navy will not accept a reality in which the freedom of action of the State of Israel, or the strategic interests in the national maritime arena, are subject to threat. We will be there, and everywhere else, openly and covertly, to fulfill our responsibility and mission in every way,” he adds.
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