A beach in Berbera, Somaliland, overlooking the Gulf of Aden at the gateway to the Red Sea.
Photographer: Simon Marks/BloombergIsrael Plans New Foothold on the Red Sea to Fight the Houthis
Amid the Iran war, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea that would allow it to target one of Tehran’s last-remaining proxies.
While the Iran war rages, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea from which to strike one of the Islamic Republic's last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of Yemen.
That’s thanks to Somaliland, the breakaway territory on the Gulf of Aden that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recognized in December — a move that handed Israel its first diplomatic presence across from Yemen. Now, the Jewish state will follow up with a strategic security partnership that may involve Israel building a base – possibly covert – on its pristine coast, despite widespread regional criticism, according to Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency.