Dec 12, 2014

On Dec. 5, Ahmed Barakeh, Palestine Islamic Jihad's representative in Yemen, met with the leader of the country’s Houthi rebels. What do the two have in common? And why should this meeting concern us?

The common denominator of these two organizations is that they are both supported, militarily and politically, by the regime in Iran. Their meeting is an expression of this connection.

Islamic Jihad, an Iranian creation, remains the Palestinian terror organization with the closest ties to Iran. When Tehran decided to disregard the Oslo Accord in 1994, it was Islamic Jihad that launched the terrorist offensive within Israel, and Hamas joined it later on. To this day, the organization is funded and operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.

The Houthis, a Shiite tribe, control the north of Yemen. Their militia is trained and equipped by Hezbollah, whose strings are also pulled by the Iranians. For several weeks, the Houthis have been expanding their foothold in Yemen after defeating the regime’s army and the Sunni militias supported by al-Qaeda. Their biggest takeover was of the Yemeni port city of Hodeida and the shoreline toward the southwest coast of Saudi Arabia and the Ras Isa marine terminal.

This takeover is of great strategic importance. For the first time, Iran has a foothold in the southern gate of the Red Sea, literally on the Bab El-Mandab Strait, which separates Asia from Africa. The western coast of Yemen is also adjacent to the western coast of Saudi Arabia, with all its strategic facilities, posing a double threat: to freedom of movement in the straits and to Saudi security.