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How Israel's Strikes on the Houthis Will Change Yemen

(Foreign Policy) Fatima Abo Alasrar - The deaths of a dozen Houthi cabinet members could appear to be a devastating decapitation. However, Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and his cabinet were the softer face of a group where genuine power remained locked within a narrow inner circle of family and allies. Rahawi's real role was to provide a veneer of national unity, not to wield authority. These were all figures who had chosen to lend their credentials to the Houthi militia's drive for legitimacy. The deeper loss, however, is psychological. For years, the Houthis have relied on the perception that they are untouchable, able to absorb strikes and emerge stronger. The Israeli attack punctured that mythology of invulnerability. The timing raises uncomfortable questions for the Houthis about how deeply Israeli intelligence has penetrated the organization. Yet the strikes did not decapitate the movement. Its leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, remains at the helm. The chief of the general staff, Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari - who manages the day-to-day war effort - is still alive. The Houthis' security and intelligence services continue to function, as does their military command structure. Looking forward, the Houthis are unlikely to be strategically derailed. They will replace their fallen ministers with new placeholders, stage larger rallies, and issue louder threats. But after the Houthis witnessed Israeli intelligence capabilities with the pager attacks on Hizbullah, experiencing direct penetration of their own leadership circles forces a different reckoning. For Israel, it means that deterrence can be achieved not only through intercepting missiles but by undermining the Houthis' mythology of invulnerability. The writer is a senior policy analyst at the Washington Center for Yemeni Studies.
2025-09-09 00:00:00
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