Law, Power, and Justice

Sunday 31 December 2023

Sunday News Notes

• Netanyahu has said he will not step down even at the end of the war (NYT, 12/31/23).  The protests against him have started up again in Israel for the first time since the beginning of the war (Podcast).
• American military helicopters came under fire from Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in the Red Sea.  They struck three Houthi boats and killed those aboard.  It is considered an escalation since it is the first time Houthis have targeted U.S. forces (NYT, 12/31/23).
• The Saudis prefer to watch developments with the Houthis, hoping for peace (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/25/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-yemen-houthis-gaza.html).
• Facts about Saudis and Yemen:
  • Iran-backed rebels took over the capital of Yemen in 2014.
  • Officials thought they would swiftly defeat the rebels with US assistance.  Instead, it cost Saudi Arabia billions. 
  • Yemen was plunged into a humanitarian crisis.
  • Faced with US pressure, Saudi and the UAE scaled back their military involvement and entered peace talks with the Houthis who now control northern Yemen.
  • Mohammed bin Salmen is now the de facto Saudi ruler. 
  • Bin Salmen, committed to making Saudi Arabia into a “global business hub by 2030” had been trying to maintain peace and trying to bring about a rapprochement with Iran.
  • Bin Salmen wants to attract tourists and investors.
  • This is a tacit admission that after eight years, the Houthis have won.  The Houthis have “settled into power in northern Yemen, where it has created an impoverished proto-state that it rules with an iron fist.”
  • Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis leader, stated that the Houthis are not afraid of battling the US
  • “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews,” is part of their slogan. 
  • Just before the war with Gaza started the Houthis were on the verge of signing an American-and Saudi-backed peace deal.
  • It appears that the Houthis expect to receive “reconstruction and reparations” payments from Saudi Arabia. 
  • Saudi Arabia declined to become a part of a US led task force to deal with the threat in the Red Sea.
• Amnesty International about Houthis and rule: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/yemen-wave-of-arrests-by-huthi-de-facto-authorities-following-demonstrations/
• Cast of Characters Israel: Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen is trading places with energy minister Israel Katz.  Both are members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party (NYT, 12/31/23).