{"id":10901,"date":"2025-01-01T13:01:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T13:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/?post_type=article&p=10901"},"modified":"2025-01-01T13:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T13:01:08","slug":"the-us-can-stop-the-houthi-threat-to-international-shipping","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.kohelet.org.il\/en\/article\/the-us-can-stop-the-houthi-threat-to-international-shipping\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Can Stop the Houthi Threat to International Shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi militia last week fired two ballistic missiles at Israel. One hit an empty school; the other wounded more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv. But the Houthis haven\u2019t been focused on Israel: Earlier this month, they launched a drone attack on three commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden, south of Yemen. The Houthis pose a greater threat to international shipping than to the Jewish state\u2014a problem the Biden administration has allowed to fester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has raised prices on goods by disrupting international trade. The cost to ship a container from China to the West Coast has more than doubled over the past year, partially because of the Houthis\u2019 attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Iran\u2019s axis of resistance reeling from defeats in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the Trump administration will be well positioned to deal forcefully with the Houthis\u2014putting pressure on Tehran, restoring American credibility, and lowering prices on imported goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Houthis\u2019 attacks on shipping began on Nov. 19, 2023, when they hijacked a British-owned vessel. The 25 crew members are still hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the Houthis have launched hundreds of attacks in and around the straits off Yemen. They have greatly disrupted shipping in the Red Sea<\/a>, a maritime highway through which 15% of the world\u2019s shipping passes. They have sunk at least two vessels and killed four crewmen while wounding others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Houthis claim their attacks are part of the Oct. 7 war against Israel. Most<\/a> of the ships they\u2019ve attacked have no direct link to Israel. It\u2019s more likely that their goal is to assert Iranian control over world trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economic effects have been significant. Red Sea shipping has declined by more than 50% over the past year. Major shipping companies including Maersk have opted to sail around Africa rather than risk Houthi fire. War risk insurance costs have more than doubled. All this translates into higher costs for American consumers. JPMorgan<\/a> predicted that the attacks could \u201cadd 0.7 percentage points to global core goods inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world confronted a similar problem during the surge in Somali pirates\u2019 attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Aden beginning in 2007. The international community rallied with a unified response. Many countries sent naval vessels on antipiracy patrols. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the use of force not only on the high seas but within Somalia\u2019s territorial waters. The U.S., France and other nations launched commando raids on land-based pirate lairs. Countries captured and tried Somali pirates, incarcerating hundreds. The response was widely celebrated as a victory of international law and global cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Houthi threat to global trade is greater but has been met with a weaker response. While the Somali pirates were armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the Houthis have missiles and drones. Somali pirates generally sought to hijack a vessel to ransom its crew; the Houthis seek to damage or sink the vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. has tried to organize an international flotilla to deter Houthi attacks\u2014but other than the U.S., only the U.K., Sri Lanka, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands contributed vessels<\/a>. The European Union put together a Red Sea force but with a narrow defensive mandate and only four ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s likely that countries pushed harder against Somali pirates precisely because they were a smaller, easier problem. The pirates weren\u2019t backed by any state power and weren\u2019t part of a broader ideological struggle. The Houthis, by contrast, are an extension of Iran. States that take on the Houthis would risk Iranian retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the world\u2019s largest importer, only the U.S. has sufficient interest and ability to deter threats to shipping. But aside from a few limited airstrikes, which don\u2019t seem to have altered Houthi behavior\u2014including one over the weekend\u2014the Biden administration has done little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ending the Houthis\u2019 attacks should unite U.S. officials across foreign-policy camps. The Houthis\u2019 actions cost American consumers, and the U.S. can\u2019t afford to have its trade subject to attacks by a group that chants \u201cDeath to America.\u201d The U.S. has stood up to bullies on the sea before: President Thomas Jefferson in 1801 sent the U.S. Navy to fight the Barbary Pirates, a group of North African naval raiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration should begin by redesignating the Houthis as a terror group. The U.S. should seek a significant expansion of attacks against Houthi targets. In this, America need not put more of its service members in harm\u2019s way. It can rely on its ally Israel, which this month executed extensive airstrikes on Houthi ports. Israel could do more with sufficient munitions. But only the U.S. can provide the naval assets, and the pressure on Iran, needed to remove the Houthi threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First appeared in The Wall Street Journal<\/a> (“End the Houthis\u2019 Threat to Global Trade<\/em>“, Dec. 22 2024)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi militia last week fired two ballistic missiles at Israel. One hit an empty school; the other wounded more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv. 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