S8 Ep669: 8. Houthis Launch Measured Missile and Drone Attacks Against Israel GUEST: Bill Roggio, Bridget Tumi SUMMARY: The Houthis have entered the Iran war by launching drone and missile attacks on Israel. This "measured" approach signals support for the axis of
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
8. Houthis Launch Measured Missile and Drone Attacks Against Israel GUEST: Bill Roggio, Bridget Tumi SUMMARY: The Houthishave entered the Iran war by launching drone and missile attacks on Israel. This "measured" approach signals support for the axis of resistance while attempting to avoid an overwhelming American military retaliation., Bridget Tumi reports that the Houthis officially joined the conflict after one month, targeting Israel to show solidarity with Lebanon and Gaza,. This strategy is calculated to avoid a major U.S. response, as closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—which carries 10-15% of global oil—would provoke international intervention. Despite previous air campaigns, the Houthis retain significant military capabilities, including Iranian-supplied cruise and ballistic missiles, and see themselves as the vanguards of the broader Muslim cause,,. (8)
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchelor. I welcome Bill Roshio, Senior Fellow Foundation for Defense of Democracy, my colleague and co-host, |
| 0:23.1 | and we're very pleased to go to Bridget Toomey, Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense |
| 0:28.7 | Democracy, and Bridget's headline in the Long War Journal tells the story, Yemen's Houthis, |
| 0:36.1 | enter Iran war with drone and missile attacks on Israel. |
| 0:41.9 | Bridget, a very good day to you. To recover the Houthis of Yemen have been a unsolved problem |
| 0:48.8 | since the beginning of the war in Israel, October of 23. Unsolved until now, because the presumption was there was |
| 0:58.7 | a meeting in some fashion of minds, ceased fires, it could be called, between the U.S. and the Houthis |
| 1:06.0 | after a bombing campaign in the spring of 25. However, that was then, this is now. The Houthis have all of a sudden |
| 1:15.6 | rattled into action firing a missile and a drone. Who are the Houthis? What do we know about |
| 1:22.4 | their capabilities? Because some of the headlines in Europe say they're entering the war in favor of Iran. Good evening to you. |
| 1:30.9 | Hi, John. So the Houthis are Iran's partner in Yemen. They rule a section of the country, govern a little over half of the population. |
| 1:40.7 | And they've been conducting attacks against Israel, against commercial shipping. |
| 1:45.3 | They're on the coast of the Red Sea. |
| 1:46.9 | So they target that maritime path and the choke point at the southern end of the Red Sea. |
| 1:53.6 | And they've also attacked U.S. naval vessels in the past. |
| 1:56.6 | So that led to a sustained air campaign. |
| 1:59.5 | But the Houthis have been fighting Gulf countries since 2015 and the rest of Yemen. So they've chosen to enter the war after nearly a month. They launched an attack at Israel, which is unlikely to provoke a U.S. response. And Israel is spread you know, spread a little thin right now with between attacks |
| 2:19.5 | in Lebanon, as well as against Iran. So I think the Houthis are taking a measured entrance into |
| 2:24.9 | the war. Bill, you have a question for Bridget. Yeah, to follow on that, you know, the measured entrance. |
| 2:31.5 | The, what would happen if the Houthis decided to strike at shipping? And why do you think |
| 2:37.2 | they haven't done this at this point in time? That Babo Mandab Strait, which the Houthi straddle, |
| 2:44.4 | that controls about 10 to 15 percent of the world's oil and other cargo moving through the Red Sea up and through the Suez Canal. |
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