Saudi Arabia refuses request from Netanyahu to join fight against Houthis, says report
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied a request by Israel to join the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, Israeli media have reported.
A diplomatic source told Haaretz that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had, through US mediation, offered to help fight the Iran-linked group in part as a means of strengthening ties with the kingdom.
Mohammed bin Salman, however, opposed the move, fearing a backlash among the Saudi public.
US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu had long trumpeted the prospect of Israel and Saudi normalisation after the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco did so in 2020.
However, the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023 appears to have sunk those plans.
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Haaretz said Israel saw the renewed fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen as an opportunity to rebuild those ties, and likely relishes the prospect of targeting a group backed by their regional arch-nemesis, Iran.
For its part, the Islamic Republic has urged Saudi Arabia to avoid a military approach and pursue a political solution to the escalating conflict, offering to help facilitate dialogue after deadly attacks on Saudi airports intensified regional tensions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the offer during a telephone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Sunday, according to statements reported by the Saudi state news agency and Iranian media.
“Insisting on a military approach and disregarding a political solution would only further complicate the situation,” Araghchi said.
The region’s crises had no military solutions, he said, adding that Tehran was ready to provide assistance to facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and help achieve a political settlement.
Deadly attack
On Saturday, an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation.
The death toll subsequently rose to 13 after an Indian national who had been injured in the strike died, according to Reuters.
Following the attack, Netanyahu issued a condemnation on social media.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which claimed the lives of 12 innocent people and injured hundreds more," he wrote on X.
"On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our deepest condolences to the families of those murdered and our wishes for a full recovery to the injured."
The Houthis said on Tuesday they had shot down a Saudi Wing Loong II armed reconnaissance drone in northern Yemen's Saada.
Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement that the aircraft was carrying out "hostile missions" when it was targeted by the group.
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