The oil-rich Gulf nation of Saudi Arabia is facing a major crisis after Houthi militants seized much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last week. With Saudi allies — most notably Mecca Pact partner Pakistan reportedly refusing to intervene in the Yemeni crisis, Riyadh has turned to Israel, a country it does not even recognise as an independent nation.
According to a report in the Tel Aviv-based daily The Jerusalem Post, Israel and Saudi Arabia held talks mediated by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), aimed at helping Riyadh defend itself against the Houthi militia through intelligence assistance.
The newspaper Israel Hayom separately reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had appealed for assistance against the Houthi offensive from other Gulf states and Egypt. According to Hayom, Israel was approached indirectly by MBS, who also serves as Saudi Arabia’s prime minister, via US CENTCOM, with requests for intelligence assistance regarding threats to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel as an independent nation and maintains no diplomatic ties with Jerusalem. Yet its outreach to Israel, even if indirect, illustrates the scale of the crisis Riyadh now finds itself facing in Yemen.
Furthermore, Riyadh’s appeals have largely gone unanswered. The US and UK have ruled out direct strikes on Ansar Allah militants in Yemen, offering intelligence assistance and military advisors instead.
More significantly, Pakistan, part of the Mecca Defence Alliance alongside Saudi Arabia and Turkey, has reportedly ruled out deploying Pakistani assets to fight the Houthis in Yemen. Islamabad has instead made clear that its forces could be deployed to defend Saudi territory itself, while drawing a red line against participating in combat operations on foreign soil.
Why is Saudi Arabia in a state of crisis?
After weeks of firing occasional drones and missiles at Saudi energy infrastructure, Ansar Allah militants launched a surprise offensive in Yemen last week that swept aside opposition from the Saudi-backed National Resistance Front.
The Houthi blitz gave the militia control of the Red Sea coast, as well as islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Following this, Houthi leaders announced that the blockade against Saudi shipping, in force since July, would continue, while ships belonging to other nations, including the US, would be allowed to transit freely.
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The closure of the Gate of Tears which had allowed Riyadh to bypass any Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — combined with attacks on the kingdom’s vast pipeline network, means Saudi Arabia now faces a situation in which its ability to export oil could be severely degraded, if not halted altogether.
Israel, which has reportedly been approached by Saudi Arabia, has faced a similar threat before. In late 2023, the Houthis began targeting Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea following the outbreak of the Gaza war.
That said, any Israeli assistance to Riyadh is likely to be limited to intelligence sharing. Hayom cited concerns over potential Houthi rocket attacks on Israeli cities, as well as the economic fallout of another blockade disrupting Red Sea shipping. Haaretz, meanwhile, reported that Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) officials had recommended that any Israeli action against Ansar Allah in response to the group’s Red Sea offensive be undertaken as part of a “broad international and regional coalition,” rather than by Israel alone.
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