Sunni and Shia are the main two denominations in Islam. The timing of the bombings has led to an escalation of the violence that ruled out any remaining possibility for talks or reconciliation. The Yemenis were convinced that Israel was involved in the conflict. In the end, only Yemen and the PLO supported the Iraqi cause. Ubad said that "this was an individual action contrary to the policy of Yemen, which refuses any normalisation with Israel". Israel, Houthi said, had been inciting a military action against Yemen months before the Saudi-led coalition decided to do so. Others believe the Shia Houthis/Sunni Tribes civil war has been initiated to divert focus off the Syrian-Iraqi fronts, where Iran is also gaining significant control. Over the years, Sunni–Shia relations have been marked by both cooperation and conflict, but never outright war like we’re witnessing today. Nonetheless, the Houthis didn’t buy the ISIL bluff card and shifted their retaliatory operations to the South towards Al Qaeda. The timing of the bombings has led to an escalation of the violence that ruled out any remaining possibility for talks or reconciliation. In the same month, in a statement to the Kuwaiti daily Al-Seyassah, the then Yemeni foreign minister Abdul Qadir Bajamal said that all attempts made by Israel to use time to serve its interests in making a peace deal are doomed to failure. That happened as Iran was concluding a deal with the US/EU over its nuclear program. In addition, Israeli agents operated in the area to guarantee the safe passage of Israeli ships on their way to and from Eilat. The Houthis, in cooperation with forces loyal to former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, escalated their military operations inside Yemen and planned to capture Aden after they had already seized control of the capital Sanaa. The bombings are similar in their calculated risk of turning any peaceful protests into outright civil war and chaos. Most in Yemen are condemned to a gloomy future, not only due to the developments on the ground but also because of the flurry of approvals given by the US to both the Saudi coalition and Israel, countries with an appalling record of human rights abuses, still launching a war against the poorest country in the Middle East. [21] Following the war Yemen has prepared 42 tons of aid for the people of Gaza. It is normal for Israel to sympathize with Eritrea. Israel–Yemen relations do not have diplomatic relations and relations between the two countries are very tense. A Yemeni government official assured the Americans that "North Yemen would do nothing to undermine U.S. peace efforts in the current Egyptian-Israeli talks to implement the Camp David agreements." Other political parties have also condemned the Israelis, and announced their support for the Palestinian and Lebanese people “in their fight for their right of survival and defeating occupier.” They also called for the closing of Israeli embassies in Arab countries. Israel persuaded Hilmi to condemn Sallal and the Egyptian involvement against the Royalists. Recent activities of Israel from attacking Iranian “Saviz” ship to air raids to Damascus are not irrelevant to this turmoil. When Israel Helped Yemen’s Shiites. Therefore, in 1976 South Yemen sent troops as part of the Arab deterrent force in Lebanon, and when Ali Nasser Muhammad visited Moscow in February 1978, the joint communique issued by the two governments condemned the Israeli-Egyptian dialogue. [30], Diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Republic of Yemen, Jews And Muslims In Lower Yemen: A Study In Protection And Restraint 1918-1949, Without Glory in Arabia: The British Retreat from Aden (International Library of Colonial History), Peter Hinchcliffe, Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967-1987, Fred Halliday, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen 1951-98: Carpet Without Magic, Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967-1987 (Cambridge Middle East Library) by Fred Halliday, Yemen Foreign Policy and Government Guide, Perilous Prospects: The Peace Process And The Arab-israeli Military Balance, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security & Foreign Policy, Sanaa SABA Online in English, 16 Feb 2009, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Yemeni-Eritrean dispute over the three Red Sea islands, "Yemeni parties condemn Israeli attacks in Palestine and Lebanon", Thousands in Yemen, Sudan protest Israeli attacks, Arab Protesters Condemn Israel’s Gaza Air Strikes, Government warns against un-official collection of money for Gaza, Yemen denounces Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla, calls for sending "Islamic army", "Yemen strongly condemns brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza", "Yemen condemns Israel's aggression in Gaza", "Parliament calls to use oil weapon against Israel", "Yemenis protest in support of Palestinian resistance", "Yemen sacks chess team for playing against Israel", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Israel–Yemen_relations&oldid=1014434445, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 March 2021, at 01:37. After unification, and with the pooling of the resources of its north and south, Yemen attained a position that gave it the power to compete with regional powers ... Israel has always had its eye on the Red Sea so that the countries that have no problems with Israel might attain predominance in the region. Haaretz revealed that Israeli officers are training foreign mercenaries, led by the Colombians and Nepalese, in UAE-funded camps situated in … According to the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, 19 Iraqi pilots were being trained in Yemen in the fall of 1993. Furthermore, Israel’s entry into the Yemen conflict is made more likely by Israel’s … Do you expect it to support Yemen, which has not yet announced an end to the state of war with Israel? While waging a verbal campaign against Israel, Yemen continued to collaborate closely with Iran and Iraq. When Ali Nasir Muhammad came to power as President in October 1980, South Yemen joined Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and the PLO in boycotting Sadat's peace initiative. But whether they decide to stay or leave is a matter for the PLO to decide."[10]. According to Iran's Minister of the Interior, Ali Mohammad Besharati, the promotion of his country's relations with Yemen was a pivotal feature of Iranian diplomacy. We had hoped for better agreement. [15] When the warring political forces in Yemen decided to reach an agreement in January 1994, the Yemeni government decided to hold a ceremony with Jordan's King Hussein as the mediator. However, the Yemeni government offered no more than vocal support. Some analysts say Iran used the conflict in Yemen as a bargaining card in the negotiations with US. 8 Military Houthi vehicles destroyed, said a military source. [20] Tens of thousands of people marched, many carrying banners condemning Israel and what they called "Arab silence" over the "extermination of the Palestinian people by the Zionist enemy". The crowd chanted "Palestinians we are with you and will never forget about you". When asked by a London weekly whether or not Arafat had informed him regarding the autonomy agreement with Israel, Saleh admitted that the agreement was reached in complete secrecy, and that he knew about it just a few weeks before its signature. The court also lowered the sentence for a third convict Ali Abdullah al-Mahfal, 25, from five to three years. Since March 29, in Washington, D.C., Iman Saleh, age 26, has been on a hunger strike to demand an end to the war in Yemen. And when asked about the future of the Palestinian forces stationed in Yemen, he said that: "The Palestinian forces stationed in Yemen are actually in their homeland. Yemen occupies a strategic position at the entrance to the Red Sea and its control of the Bab-el-Mandeb, Israel's outlet to the Indian Ocean and the Far East, which increased its importance in the eyes of Israeli strategists. The Houthis see a Jewish conspiracy behind for the campaign against them. After that synchronized suicide bombing of two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing more than 140 Houthis, Yemen was never the same again. People with an Israeli passport or any passport with an Israeli stamp cannot enter Yemen, and Yemen is defined as an "enemy state" by Israeli law. Israeli Intelligence Service's documents reveal that it had a detailed knowledge of the magnitude of South Yemen's assistance to the Palestinians. ", Despite its willingness to moderate its attitude towards Israel, San'a was not ready to take any step which might trigger Arab criticism against it. The unification of the two Yemens on May 22, 1990, reduced the vocal campaign against Israel but did not bring normalization. Commenting on the Yemeni-Eritrean dispute over the three Red Sea islands, and the Eritrean occupation of Greater Hanish, an Iranian source said: Observers believe that the Eritrean move of occupying Greater Hanish was instigated by countries that do not want Yemen to dominate the Bab-el-Mandeb island and strengthen its regional position. In his research and writings Dr. Ezzat is always on a quest trying to find out why the ancient wisdom had been obstructed and ancient spirituality diminished whereas the Judeo-Christian teachings and faith took hold and prospered. Attempting to cover up the immigration issue, Yemeni sources said that prominent Jews had asked for protection against Israeli attempts to coerce them to immigrate to Israel. As a gesture of goodwill and solidarity with the UAR, the Ba'ath Party was allowed to establish a branch in San'a. The organ of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Al-Thawri, claimed that the attempt to improve relations with Israel was part of a Yemeni grand design to become friendly with the United States. In February 1996, Abd-al-Wahhab Darawsha and Talab al-Sani, both leaders of the Democratic Party and Knesset members arrived in San'a at the invitation of the Yemeni parliament, the House of Representatives. With backing from the UAE, groups in the south of Yemen are warming up to the idea of normalized relations. [2], In an attempt to explore the underlying reasons for the Six-Day War, observers concluded that both the U.S. and Great Britain sought the withdrawal of Egyptian forces from Yemen and that the war's objective was to restore the Royalist regime. The Iranians simply to put the Saudis under pressure, and flex some muscles in front the US. Then, in an about-face, the Government of Yemen invited General Norman Schwarzkopf to visit San'a. With the start of Arab Spring uprisings, Iraq followed by Syria have been turning into theaters for covert operations and proxy wars, all carried out under the guise of Shia/Sunni conflict. It denounced U.S. policy toward Iraq and assisted Saddam Hussein on every occasion. Covert negotiations regarding the transfer of Jews to Israel were denied by San'a. In October 2015, the Yemeni government handed down an ultimatum to the tiny Jewish community: convert to Islam or leave. It called on the Arab parliaments and shoura councils to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the "Israeli aggression against Gaza", calling for visiting Gaza in sympathy with its people. In 1982 San'a not only condemned Israel for its invasion of Lebanon and the U.S. for facilitating that invasion, but also joined a ministerial delegation sent by South Yemen to all Arab capitals to discuss the issue. In February 1948, Imam Yahya was assassinated and his successor, Imam Ahmad bin Yahya came to power. [28] On November 19, hundreds marched in Sana'a to "affirm their solidarity with those under siege in the Gaza strip". The civil war began in September 2014 when Houthi forces took over the capital city Sanaa, which was followed by a rapid … Yemen's attitude during the Gulf War was clearly a byproduct of pragmatic thought. This would be a huge success for Israel covert operatives and political strategists. Both Egypt and Syria supported the republican forces in Yemen, and thereby encouraged Sallal's regime to take a similar regional stance regarding the occupation of Palestine. But we know in advance, and we were told by the Eritreans before we had a dispute with them that they received a grant from Israel, in the form of four or six boats. A prominent Israeli commentator revealed that Israel has been intervening in the Yemeni war between the Houthis and other Yemeni forces to … Not only were rival governments – one backed by the Saudi-UAE … Israel as a Middle Eastern country, a Zionist aggressor by Arab definition, has a genuine stake in destabilizing the region. [26] The Yemeni parliament has denounced the Israeli operation, considering it an "aggression against all Arab and Muslim countries" and calling for using oil as a weapon to end the Israeli operation. 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In August 1997, it urged the government to boycott the Middle East and North Africa economic summit scheduled for November that year in Qatar, if Israel did not take serious measures toward a lasting peace. It is clearer than ever. When South Yemen embarked on an initiative to normalize relations with Oman in the late 1980s, the official statement from Aden was: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, "normalizing relations between the PDRY and the Sultanate of Oman is one of the PDRY's goals in securing the stability of the region and avoiding the hostile dangers that threatens our people as a result of the growing imperialist military presence and the U.S. and Israeli plots against our Arab peoples", Yet after the 1973 blockade, Yemen did not interrupt the free navigation of Israeli ships originating from Eilat, and when Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin visited Aden in September 1979, South Yemen was prepared to accept the principle of freedom of navigation for all ships from "all adjoining states". Sami Jadallah – Stuart Littlewood During the Gulf crisis, Jordan's King Hussein persuaded Yemen to support Saddam Hussein, and there were reports of Yemeni troops concentration along the Saudi border. When an Egyptian pilot, Captain Abbas Hilmi defected to Israel in 1964, his interrogators learned that the Egyptians were using poison gas against the Yemeni Royalists. Most emigrated to Israel in the mid-20th century. The genealogy of many of the tribes of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia could be traced back to Northern Yemen. If we bear in mind that the new Arab joint forces, for the first time, view Iran – not Israel – as the Arabs’ enemy, we could guess who is behind the operation, and who has benefited most from the Sanaa bombings. The new Imam called upon all Arabs to unite against the Zionist State. The Yemeni government did not give publicity to their visit. History Dept. [4] The new government began providing support in Lebanon. Yemen’s Jews sought out asylum in Israel and the United States due to the country’s ongoing war with Houthi rebel tribes. All the turmoil in Yemen could have been contained and resolved had it not been for the bombings on March 20th. The general public in Israel are increasingly growing concerned in regards to Houthi capability to potentially attack Israel. His party's position, he said, was that peace in the Middle East could not be established without securing the Palestinians right to an independent state. According to a statement released to the Saba News Agency from a government source, "Yemen has announced its strong condemnation and denunciation of the "brutal Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip, and standing of the Yemeni people with their brothers in Palestine at all times". When the U.S. announced its decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Yemeni Cabinet denounced the decision and expressed hope that the US government will reverse the bill that Yemen regarded as "contradictory to all resolutions of international legitimacy". In Yemen, the Shia Houthis have recently been encouraged by Iran to take advantage of the power vacuum that ensued after the menacing Arab Spring uprisings. Yet another Arab country is crumbling under the winds of the Arab Spring — soon turned to Islamist winter. The foreign policy resolutions of the Unification Congress of October 1975 called for support for the Palestinians. From the start of the first so-called Arab Spring, there have been similar attacks and bombings. Reacting to Israel's raids in south Lebanon, Abd al-Fattah Ismail, a spokesman for South Yemen, attested to the close link with the Arab liberation movement in its entirety. It added that the approval given to the singer's visit was "a flying balloon whose purpose is to gauge the response of the nation and the parties before additional steps to normalize relations can be taken." Yemen sent a representative to attend former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's funeral, and although they were critical of the slow pace of the peace process, Yemeni officials were encouraged by the Israel-Palestinian dialogue. Rumors spread in South Yemen that shortly before their withdrawal from there, the British collaborated with Israel in an attempt to crush the tribes of Southern Arabia in order to prolong their colonial rule. Sallal's visit to Damascus in early summer of 1963 was widely publicized in the Arab press as a sign of unity and a revival of all progressive, anti-imperialist forces. In March 1994, Sheikh Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani, member of the Yemeni Presidential Council warned against what he regarded as a foreign and Zionist scheme to partition Yemen into several stateless in order to make it easier to control its oil wealth and strategic location, especially in the strait of Bab el Mandab. In another interview with a London-based Arabic newspaper, Basindwah said that Yemen would exert every effort in order to reconcile all factions within the Palestinian camp and called on the Palestinians to prevent Israel from benefiting from the dissension in their ranks. This fact was known to us, and we mentioned it in the media. The "Ma'ariv" report was described as "fabricated and baseless in spirit and content". In Yemen, the peace deal between Israel and the UAE can add to the momentum of hate and mistrust between the Houthis and their local political opponents, who are allied with the Saudi-UAE-led Arab coalition that launched … [3] The division of Yemen into two countries following Britain's withdrawal was a source of major concern for the Israelis. They all have been carried out by anonymous parties. The development comes just as world powers are negotiating over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. The hunger strikers point out that enforcement of the Saudi Coalition-led blockade relies substantially on US weaponry. This pragmatic approach became even more pronounced following the merger of the two countries on May 22, 1990. Saudi officials announce Yemen ceasefire with Iran-backed Houthi amid pandemic Houthi leaders and Yemen’s internationally recognized government do … He added: "We were as surprised as the entire world, but when it comes to the settlement of their own problem, we support the choice of the Palestinian people", [11] When a journalist asked him about his country's position on the Israeli-Palestinian agreement regarding Gaza and Jericho, Saleh said: "We support the will of the Palestinian Arab people and whatever these militant Arab people have made and accepted. Even reports regarding the relaxation of the Arab Boycott against Israel by Oman and other Gulf countries did not inspire the Yemeni government to follow suit. The North Yemen Civil War (Arabic: ثورة 26 سبتمبر ‎, romanized: Thawra 26 Sabtambar, lit. Read Dr. Ezzat’s Kindle book “Egypt Knew No Pharaohs Nor Israelites“, Jonas Alexis – Ian Greenhalgh When the Israeli singer, Ofra Haza planned to visit Yemen, her country of origin, the Yemeni government gave its approval. [19], Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh condemned the Israeli raids as a “barbaric aggression”. The fears that Israel was determined to prevent Yemen from controlling Bab alMandab increased partially as a result of an intense Iranian propaganda campaign aimed at keeping the two countries hostile to each other. San'a's fears increased particularly since the Israeli Intelligence Services had frequently sent vessels to monitor any activity in the Red Sea. She is joined by five others from her group, The Yemeni Liberation Movement. [14] Yemen occupies a strategic position at the entrance to the Red Sea and its control of the Bab-el-Mandeb, Israel's outlet to the Indian Ocean and the Far East, which increased its importance in the eyes of Israeli strategists. Yemeni invasion of Saudi Arabia repelled; First Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949) Egypt Iraq Transjordan Syria Lebanon Saudi Arabia Yemen HWA ALA Israel: Defeat. The demonstrators, which began at Change Square, marched to the local Hamas office in Haseba district. Hence Tel Aviv is not very pleased about Yemen holding sway over the region. Parliamentary speaker Abdullah al-Ahmar said that those countries who decided to attend the summit would be serving Israel's interests. [2], Following the Six-Day War, Yemen severed its diplomatic relations with the US due to "Washington's blind support to Israel against the Arab cause in Palestine" and condemned Israel for its occupation of Palestinian land. But while it did not acknowledge Israel right to exist, the YSP did not call for its liquidation, nor did it call for the establishment of a "secular and democratic" state as the PLO Charter demanded. While Aden preached unity within the PLO camp, it maintained close contacts with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). San'a repeatedly called for an end to the Iran-Iraq war. In a late and hesitant statement, and as if it were an afterthought, ISIL claimed responsibility. History of the ancient Near East and of Ancient Egypt has long been an area of special interest to him. San'a's attitude toward Israel showed similar tendencies. Israel media turmoil regarding war in Yemen is while Ansar Allah officials reported before the presence of Israel beside the Saudi coalition. This made officials in San'a aware that Israel would use force to keep its gateway to the Indian Ocean open. Eritrea has official diplomatic relations with Israel. On June 22, 1969, a coup overthrew Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi and brought Salim Rubai Ali to the Presidency.