Israel was shocked when the US suddenly announced the halt of the military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, saying that a “ceasefire” had been reached and the Houthis agreed not to attack US ships.
According to a New York Times report on Monday, President Donald Trump decided to halt the offensive against the Houthis in Yemen after realizing it was an expensive campaign that was not yielding significant results.
The initial military plan against the Houthis was a months-long military campaign of powerful airstrikes to destroy Houthi air defenses, followed by targeted assassinations, largely modeled on Israel’s war agaist Hezbollah.
Wary of becoming embroiled in another expensive US military engagement in the Middle East, Trump wanted to see results within 30 days of the opening strikes two months ago. He requested a progress report on Day 31.
According to the report he received, the US had not even established air superiority over the Houthis. The Houthis had intercepted several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and were continuing to fire at ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier.
The dismal results came at a high price, with the first month alone costing about $1 billion in weapons and munitions. Additionally, some Pentagon officials were horrified by the large number of precise munitions used in that one month, fearing that the US would drain its supply of munitions and be unable to intervene in the case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Trump wanted out. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who was already involved in Omani-mediated nuclear talks with Iran, brought him an Omani proposal that the US halt the bombing campaign in exchange for a Houthi commitment to refrain from targeting US ships in the Red Sea.
Attacks on other ships, especially those the Houthis deemed as “linked to Israel,” or attacks on Israel itself, were not part of the agreement.
On May 5, U.S. Central Command officials received a sudden order from the White House to “pause” attacks.
The report added that the decision to halt the offensive in Yemen was contrary to the opinion of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Michael Kurilla. Those who convinced Trump to stop the operation were Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
“Comrad Trump is the most stable genious in the history of the Universe.
Whatever he does is worthy of adulation.
Only deranged, woke liberals can find fault in anything he does”- All my frum friends.
Who is right now, fools?
It’s hard to believe anything the NYT reports since they’ve become labeled the NY Trash but this story seems to be most reasonable. And the president, oh he’s so unpredictable that this report seems to align with his MO.
Where was the NYT article about Biden not doing a darn noticeable thing to the Hooties?
Didn’t Elon save him Trillions $?
I’m not saying I’m happy with it but he sort of accomplished what he went out to do, stop the attacks on shipping. He gives billions in funds and military equipment to Israel so why can’t they use it? He has to always lead the way? Of course I would be happier if he continued but don’t take this as an excuse to bash the man
Biden didnt do anything so Trump is at least controlling the Houthis
Trump’s job is to protect American interests. Israel is not an American interest – only a client. If the Israelis want to use the Red Sea for access to the Indian Ocean and to markets in India and China, the Israelis need to defeat the Houthis on their own. The Zionist idea of independence was so Israel can defend itself and not have to rely on goyim – so why expect the United States to defend Israeli shipping?
Notice a pattern? Attacks, stop attacks. Tariffs, pause tariffs, tariffs, make exceptions. The president is an unintelligent, unknowledgable person with no ability to strategize for the long term. He has surrounded himself with the same unfit crowd. He will turn his back on Israel just like he did to Ukraine.
Zionist amiti:
Your Zionist paradise is so proud of their IDF. Your idol of Zionism is that you cannot count on gentiles to protect you so you need a “State” of your own. Well, you have you little pseudo-State. And now you’re all mad that your little Zionist paradise wasn’t included in his deal.
You can’t have it both ways. Either you believe in the heresy that G-d cannot protect Jews unless they have their own “State”, or you acknowledge that Zionism is a disaster for Jews and that G-d can and will protect Jews world-wide and doesn’t need the Zionists and doesn’t need anyone else either.
One of the reasons I said not to vote for Trump was that are people were placing unwarranted faith in him. That always goes wrong.