Plus, Darline Graham heads for the campaign trail
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
A U.S. Army carry team moves the flagged-draped coffins containing the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian strike on March 7, 2026.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleGood Monday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
U.S. and Iranian leaders continued to escalate their rhetoric as renewed military hostilities entered their second week: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that Tehran is in “full-scale war” with the U.S., while President Donald Trump proclaimed that “every time Iran kills an American soldier” — after three service members were killed in Iranian attacks over the weekend — “they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump said he had conveyed that directive to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and “every leader in the military”…
U.S. officials told The New York Times that dozens of U.S. service members were injuredand several helicopters damaged in previously undisclosed Iranian strikes in Jordan last week, prior to this weekend’s fatal attacks.
The deadly strikes reportedly hit housing units where U.S. forces live and sleep, with some troops unable to reach bomb shelters before the missiles struck…
The NYT also investigates the deaths of three civilian crewmembers aboard a shadow tanker carrying Iranian oil that was targeted by U.S. strikes on June 10 as part of the American blockade of Iranian ports.
The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a focal point of the conflict, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed today that two oil tankers had exploded after passing through the waterway…
All the while, the White House posted to its social media feed a three-week-old poll from a right-wing polling firm showing support for the now-defunct U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed last month, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemed to back away today from a campaign pledge — reiterated in an interview over the weekend — to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits New York for the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
“My administration will follow all applicable local laws. That is our commitment,” the mayor told reporters. Trump, meanwhile, pledged on Truth Social that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America”…
Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) confirmed on Fox News that she will run in the special election next month for U.S. Senate to fill the seat of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Darline Graham already has Trump’s endorsement, given as he encouraged her to run on Friday.
Not to be dissuaded, Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), who was thought to be a front-runner before Darline Graham came on the scene, also declared his candidacy for the seattoday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters he is not endorsing anyone “at the moment” in the race…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) became the latest progressive lawmaker to endorse far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed today, citing the “special interests running millions of dollars in TV ads to buy this seat,” an apparent reference to the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC supporting El-Sayed’s opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI)…
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) pulled family pictures off of his campaign site that feature his son-in-law, who was found to have promoted white nationalism and Nazi ideology online, as he runs for U.S. Senate against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…
The State Departmentannounced today that the Lebanese Armed Forces is assuming control of three villages in southern Lebanon as part of pilot zones established under the trilateral agreement between Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. The IDF, which is coordinating the effort with the LAF and U.S. military, said it will “respond forcefully to any violation of the agreement”…
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia today in retaliation for what the terror group called Riyadh’s “oppressive siege” on Yemen…
Former Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer has rejoined the Jewish Institute for National Security of America as a distinguished fellow, the organization announced…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at Ed Miliband, the member of Parliament who was tapped today by new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham to serve as foreign secretary, and what his selection could mean for British policy toward Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will meet President Donald Trump at the White House. The two leaders’ first in-person meeting comes as Lebanon, the U.S. and Israel work to implement their trilateral agreement signed last month and as the Lebanese government seeks to demonstrate its ability to disarm and contain Hezbollah.
On the Hill, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine will appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee for a hearing on the Trump administration’s $88 billion supplemental funding request for the Pentagon.
The House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on the terror threat landscape ahead of the upcoming 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks with testimony from former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.
Jewish groups including the Jewish Federation of Columbia South Carolina, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Zionist Organization of America, Young Jewish Conservatives, the Jewish Community Action Network, the Focus Project, ChaiTech and Stop Antisemitism will hold a virtual national tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance arrives at Ben Gurion airport on October 21, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Good Thursday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) vowed today that should Democrats regain control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections, the party will adopt a “broadly inclusive” but fundamentally new approach to policy on Israel, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports.
“The situation relative to the United States’ relationship with Israel, the Palestinian people and policy in the Middle East has to change because the current status quo is unsustainable,” Jeffries said at a press conference, following yesterday’s vote by more than 100 House Democrats to cut aid to Israel…
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement about his “very close” vote in support of the amendment to end aid to Israel that he’s “deeply concerned” about hostile actions taken by those on the far left to pressure him to support such a measure, including having his home vandalized, a staff member assaulted and a fire set in his driveway.
He insisted he still supports the Jewish state but said he voted in favor “to try once more to get the attention of the Israeli government,” with which he disagrees…
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) again insisted that he has no plans to leave the Democratic Party, but said he would do so if it “officially” becomes “the anti-Israel party,” during an appearance at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington yesterday…
Even as CENTCOM initiated a sixth straight day of strikes on Iran this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Tehran “very much continues to talk to the United States of America and express that they want to make a deal with us”…
Leavitt declined to address directly if President Donald Trump agrees with the assessment shared by Vice President JD Vance on a podcast yesterday that Israeli actors are engaged in influence campaigns to change U.S. public opinion on the Iran war: “The president would certainly agree that foreign countries certainly try to persuade American public opinion. There’s no doubt about that. I think it’s just a basic fact,” she said, without addressing Israel…
Israel’s Foreign Ministry denounced as “defamatory” a story in Time magazine referenced by Vance as evidenceof his allegations about Israeli influence campaigns: “All of our activities are transparent and are conducted in strict compliance with U.S. law. … We certainly do not interfere in any U.S. foreign or domestic policy,” the Foreign Ministry stated, without referring to Vance by name.
The ministry said it had “lawfully contracted with an experienced digital agency” to work to combat antisemitism and strengthen support for the U.S.-Israel relationship…
David Alan Scheer II, the son-in-law of U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), has built a following as a pro-white nationalist social media influencer and has shared antisemitic and pro-Nazi material online, CNN reports.
Scheer has promoted conspiracies that Jews are responsible for the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy and the 9/11 terror attacks, among other claims, and said one antisemitic graphic he shared was made by his wife, Collins’ daughter. It’s the latest incident of Collins being closely tied to far-right figures as he attempts to unseat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…
Ossoff called on Collins to “apologize immediately for his and his office’s disqualifying ties to neo-Nazi ideology and notorious white supremacists,” calling him a “known bigot and antisemite.” Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch, a Jewish Democrat, said of Collins, “Being pro-Israel is not a hall pass for antisemitism”…
The Wall Street Journal examines what is known about Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, amid reports that Trump is looking into striking the highly fortified underground facility. Experts believe the site could be large enough to “hold a centrifuge enrichment plant capable of producing weapon-grade uranium” and potentially manufacture nuclear weapon delivery components…
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis in Yemen, warned today that the terror group will target “all Saudi oil installations and highly vital facilities” with drone and missile attacks if Saudi Arabia escalates its operations in Yemen, the latest sign of a potential breakdown in the yearslong truce between the Houthis and Riyadh…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the gaps left in the Republican Party by the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and the jockeying in the Senate to fill them.
The Aspen Security Forum wraps up in Colorado tomorrow with a live taping of the “Pod Save the World” podcast with former Obama administration staffers Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor, in conversation with Annalena Baerbock, president of the U.N. General Assembly.
American Friends of Magen David Adom is hosting a summer conversation series across the country with “Fauda” star Lior Raz, kicking off tomorrow in Long Branch, N.J.
We’ll be back with the Daily Overtime on Monday. Shabbat shalom!
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Plus, Vance alleges Israeli influence campaign to extend Iran war
Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images
The sun sets behind the U.S. Capitol Building on July 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
Good Wednesday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
More than 100 House Democrats, about half of the caucus, voted in favorof Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) amendment to strip all U.S. aid to Israel out of the State Department appropriations bill this afternoon, including several leaders of the caucus such as Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), the No. 2 House Democrat, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
While the amendment was overwhelmingly defeated, 314-104, the large segment of Democrats supporting the measure indicates a growing shift away from the party’s historic support for Israel…
Vice President JD Vance, in an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” released today, stated repeatedly that Israeli actors are engaged in a “very discreet, very well-funded” influence campaign to extend the war in Iran: “There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely. Again, not towards any objective, but just indefinitely,” he alleged.
Vance also said that the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence” and to “elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center”…
The U.S., Israel and Lebanon, wrapping up talks in Rome this week, agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the two pilot zones the parties agreed to create in southern Lebanon, a State Department official said today, without specifying a timeline for the IDF’s withdrawal. The parties will now engage in expanded technical talks to implement the trilateral agreement reached in the last round of negotiations…
CENTCOM began another round of strikes against Iran this afternoon; coming after strikes earlier in the day, the pace of the operations appears to be gaining momentum. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering expanding U.S. military efforts to include more airstrikes, utilizing ground forces and targeting nuclear sites again, according to The Wall Street Journal…
Three senior U.S. officials connected to the Board of Peace, the Trump-led body created to resolve the conflict in Gaza, have been meeting with congressional offices this week to request $200 million for the International Stabilization Force, two people with knowledge of the meetings told Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch. The meetings mark the first time that Board of Peace representatives have approached Congress with a funding request…
Ahead of today’s deadline, candidates have begun releasing their fundraising reports for the second quarter. In Georgia, where some in the Jewish community have felt torn between two less-than-ideal options in Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), Ossoff holds a commanding fundraising advantage: The senator reported raising$20 million this quarter with $42 million in the bank, while Collins raised $2.1 million, leaving him with $2.2 million in cash on hand…
Meanwhile, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed released his 2025 tax returns, which he is not legally obligated to do but was pressured to do by his opponent in the Democratic primary, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). El-Sayed’s reported total income was over $680,000, nearly $300,000 of which was unspecified as to its source…
The anti-Israel American Priorities super PAC made an initial investment of $375,000 to boost El-Sayed in the race; El-Sayed has repeatedly railed against super PAC involvement in politics — particularly that of AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, which is spending heavily in favor of Stevens…
Rep. Hilary Scholten (D-MI), speaking to Semafor about electability concerns in the Democratic Party, criticized progressives who “prop up other candidates who have said really problematic things.” The moderate congresswoman added that El-Sayed, who has been criticized for comments about Stevens seen as misogynistic, “has a problematic record with women”…
A new Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvania voters found Gov. Josh Shapiro leading his Republican opponent in his reelection race by 13 points, 53-40%, with a 56% overall approval rating. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) had a 77% approval rating among Republicans, but only 19% among voters in his own party. Nearly half (49%) of voters said the Democratic Party has moved too far to the left, while 42% said the Republican Party has moved too far to the right…
Former White House senior official Brett McGurk is releasing a book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages, on his role leading U.S. efforts under former President Joe Biden to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, due out on Oct. 6 to coincide with the third anniversary of the attacks…
The New York Times examines the role that Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel could play in the potential presidential run of his brother, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, as politicians increasingly seek access to media as part of their campaigns; among those close to Ari Emanuel are the UFC’s Dana White, commentator Joe Rogan, pundit Stephen A. Smith as well as Elon Musk…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at what this afternoon’s vote on Massie‘s amendment to cut all U.S. aid to Israel means for the future of Israel policy in the Democratic Party.
At least eight Democratic candidates vying to replace former nominee Graham Platner on the ballotfor U.S. Senate in Maine will take the debate stage tomorrow evening in their first chance to pitch themselves to voters, ahead of the state Democratic Party’s nominating convention later this month.
President Donald Trump will give an address to the nation in the evening, which he has said will largely focus on American election security.
The American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention will kick off in Washington. The second largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the AFT has previously featured anti-Israel resolutions at its gatherings.
The Aspen Security Forum continues with several panels on the Middle East, including speakers such as Akif Çağatay Kılıç, top advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee; Dan Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Rahm Emanuel; Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor; and Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.
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Plus, Dem leaders split on Israel aid
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) questions U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as he testifies before the House Armed Services Committee April 29, 2026.
Good Tuesday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Iranian leaders, as military hostilities escalate between Iran and the U.S.: “Do not count on there being calm if you attack us,” Netanyahu addressed Tehran, while speaking today at a conference in southern Israel. “Do not expect a repeat of what happened before, because there will be no repeat. … Any further attempt to harm us will be met with a different response — far more powerful”…
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump walked back his announcement that the U.S. would institute a 20% toll on all cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on Truth Social that Middle East leaders had agreed to additional trade and investment deals with the U.S. to replace the fee…
CENTCOM announced it began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran this afternoon “to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait, and officially reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched missile and drone attacks in retaliation against bases in Kuwait and Bahrain…
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said he would oppose an amendment led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to strip all aid to Israel out of the 2027 State Department appropriations bill, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. But Jeffries also argued for “urgent change” to the U.S.-Israel relationship, including suggesting that direct U.S. military aid to Israel should end when the current memorandum of understanding expires.
Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), on the other hand, said he plans to vote yes on Massie’s amendment, writing in a “Dear Colleague” letter that the “American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military”…
Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced today that the U.S. will only be permitted to station 20 military refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport, while the rest must be parked at Israeli Air Force bases, in order to facilitate commercial travel for Israelis over the summer…
U.N. official Ramiz Alakbarov accused Hamas forces of interfering at a humanitarian aid distribution site in Gaza, saying armed men had entered a warehouse and “endangered humanitarian personnel,” leading the organization to suspend its operations at the site. “These incidents are not isolated. They are completely unacceptable and reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction,” Alakbarov said…
Trump asked Netanyahu in a phone call last week to pull IDF forces back from Syria and Lebanon, Axios reports; the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu in turn emphasized Israel’s need for security zones along its borders…
The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area issued a statement today on Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) recent encounter in the West Bank, where he claims he was detained by violent settlers as well as the IDF. The group said it has “conveyed our concerns to the Congressman in how he is representing the district and our community on foreign policy issues” and called on Khanna “to exercise the same urgency he has brought to criticizing Israel to address the hostile climate many Jewish Americans face every day”…
Pressed repeatedly by writers with the Hamas-sympathetic outlet Drop Site News to offer support for the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and Palestinians’ “right to kill Israeli soldiers,” Khanna said he is “not for violence in any way”…
Asked about legislation imposing sanctions on Russia that was championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Trump said in the Oval Office today that lawmakers “may be adding Iran to it … They may add Hezbollah, too.” He said there’s a “good chance” it will pass “in honor of Lindsey”…
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were spotted in the Senate chamber during the swearing-in this afternoon of Darline Graham Nordone to fill Graham’s seat…
The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC sent direct mail to voters in Michigan highlighting far-left Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s refusal to condemn extreme rhetoric from antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker and El-Sayed’s efforts to “rationalize” the attack on Michigan’s Temple Israel earlier this year…
Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil filed a civil rights lawsuit against Trump administration officials, the Heritage Foundation and pro-Israel groups Canary Mission and Betar, alleging they “sought to terrorize” him to “intimidate and silence the growing movement for Palestinian rights”…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for an interview with Avi Loeb, the Israeli Harvard scientist leading Trump’s search for answers that may be out of this world.
Trump will headline the last day of Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the U.S. Army War College, with additional remarks from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
The Aspen Security Forum in Colorado will feature fireside chats with former Navy Secretary John Phelan and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Also on tomorrow’s agenda: a live taping of the “What the Hell is Going On?” podcast hosted by the American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen, in conversation with former National Security Advisors Stephen Hadley and Robert O’Brien as well as Michèle Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy.
Jay Clayton will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing to be director of national intelligence, after Trump abruptly canceled his hearing originally scheduled for last month.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) will speak at the Hudson Institute on the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East..
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Experts said suspected Saudi strikes on Yemen’s main airport were aimed at stopping Iran from establishing an airlink with the Houthis, which could be used to funnel weapons to the terror group
Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images
A Yemeni supporter of the Iran-backed Houthi movement holds a portrait of Iran's slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a protest against U.S. strikes on Iran in Sanaa on July 10, 2026.
Airstrikes on Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport on Monday were intended to stop Iran and the Houthis from breaking a decades-long air blockade and opening an uncontrolled air link between Tehran and its Yemeni proxy, regional analysts said — a corridor they warn could let Iran resupply the Houthis directly with weapons for future campaigns against Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes and vowed to retaliate, with a spokesperson claiming the period of “de-escalation” between Riyadh and the terror group was over. Later Monday, the group said it had fired on Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government took responsibility for the original attacks, with Defense Minister Gen. Taher al-Aqili saying on X that the strikes hit the runway to stop an Iranian aircraft — carrying the Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — from landing. The Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport, and the government ordered all airports under its control closed until further notice.
Riyadh has not claimed responsibility for the attack in Sanaa, but “it was certainly responsible,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British diplomat and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“The attack was intended to resist Iranian and Houthi efforts to break the air blockade on the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen that has existed for more than a decade,” Fitton-Brown told JI. “Iran and the Houthis took the opportunity of Khamenei’s funeral to test Saudi resolve. Their explicit intention is to establish a regular air link between Iran and Sanaa, uncontrolled by the Saudis or their allies.” He warned such a link would let Iran funnel weaponry to the terror group for “future campaigns” against Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as in the Red Sea.
President Donald Trump reportedly gave his blessing for the strikes to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who called him on Friday to get U.S. backing for military action against the Houthis, according to an Axios report.
Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said similarly that “there were well-founded fears on the part of the Yemen government and the Saudis that the Houthis would use this as a pretext to get around U.N. restrictions and to normalize flights from Iran. If they succeeded, these flights could funnel weapons and other material support to the Houthis.”
The renewed tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis come after a period of relative calm in Yemen’s decade-long civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen – forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.
A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, intervened the following year in support of the government. The parties have held a fragile truce since 2023, which has lasted even as the Houthis launched strikes around the region in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
Today, the Houthis control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, including most major population centers, while the Saudi-backed government controls much of the south.
The incident “fits a long-term pattern of covert Iranian assistance to the Houthis, which remains subject to U.N. Security Council prohibitions,” said Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. “Riyadh wants to prevent the Houthis from recovering after being hit hard by U.S.-Israeli strikes last year, before the counter-Houthi coalition fractured.”
Ruhe said that while the “counter-Houthi coalition is weakened right now,” he noted that the Houthis are also not at full strength.
“Riyadh might be calculating that it’s better to deal with Houthi retaliation now, and to assert the Yemeni government’s authority to keep Iran out of the country, than to stand by and wait for the Houthis to rearm and become a major problem once again,” Ruhe said.
“Riyadh historically has seen Yemen as its own soft underbelly, long before the Houthis ever took Sanaa. Iran is the obvious threat on the kingdom’s front door, but Saudis’ threat perception from the south has always been acute, which leads it to be more assertive in Yemen than people might normally expect,” he continued.
“There is a contradiction [on the part of the Saudis] between trumpeting the strength and resolve of the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen and the Saudi-Emirati quarrel that erupted over southern Yemeni independence late last year and it’s still not fully resolved,” Fitton-Brown said. “Ironically, Iranian and Houthi overreach may drive the Saudis and Emiratis back into each other’s arms.”
Fitton-Brown said next steps could also depend on what the Houthi retaliation looks like. He noted that the terror proxy could employ drone or missile attacks on Saudi Arabia or disrupt shipping in the region.
“[The Houthis] may attack Saudi Arabia directly with drones and missiles, as they have in the past. Or they may decide that it is time to resume disruption of the Red Sea and [the] Bab el-Mandeb [strait], compounding the impact of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on the global economy,” Fitton-Brown said. “That risks drawing a U.S.-led united international response.”
Diwan noted that the Houthis have shown a willingness to “take revenge” on key assets in the region. She said the group could “take revenge both through provocations in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and aerial strikes on Saudi airports in the west.”
Ruhe said that while the Houthis have notably been silent during the conflict between Washington and Tehran, their lack of involvement “can’t be taken for granted going forward.” He similarly noted that Houthi retaliation is possible as Iran seeks to “ratchet up pressure on shipping chokepoints and key regional energy infrastructure,” such as the Red Sea, which has been a bypass for Saudi oil exports that would have previously gone through the Gulf.
Plus, Graham's Senate seat kept in the family
Shady Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Commercial vessels and oil tankers preparing to transit through the Strait of Hormuz maintain their wait in the Gulf of Oman, on June 17, 2026.
Good Monday afternoon.
This P.M. briefing is reserved for our premium subscribers like you — offering a forward-focused read on what we’re tracking now and what’s coming next.
Today’s Daily Overtime was curated by JI U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
📡On Our Radar
Notable developments and interesting tidbits we’re tracking
President Donald Trump declared today that the U.S. will take control of the Strait of Hormuz and will institute a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the waterway “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Jewish Insider’s Christina Sher reports. The move comes after Trump and his administration insisted for months that no country is permitted to charge fees to transiting ships…
Trump also announced he is reinstating a blockade of Iranian ports, which was lifted when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding last month. CENTCOM said the blockade will resume tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET and will be enforced “against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
CENTCOM also revealed that it successfully deployed sea drones in combat operations for the first time yesterday, using the unmanned vessels to strike an Iranian submarine at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base…
Trump notified Congress on Friday that fighting with Iran officially resumed last week, further stoking tensions between the executive and legislative branches as lawmakers already approved a war powers resolution calling for an end to American operations in Iran.
Trump’s letter to congressional leadership said U.S. “ground forces are not involved in these strikes” — which he described as “limited, measured, planned, and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties” — and said he is acting “pursuant to [his] constitutional authority as Commander in Chief”…
The Mossad spent years grooming former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an intelligence asset to be installed as Iran’s leader after a post-Khamenei regime change, including paying for his housing and travel and arranging a meeting with then-Mossad chief David Barnea under cover of a climate conference in Budapest in 2024, American and Iranian officials told The New York Times.
As the Iran war broke out on Feb. 28, Mossad operatives rescued Ahmadinejad from an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran compound and took him to a safe house, but he balked and left — Ahmadinejad is now reportedly under house arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…
The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Yemen’s international airport today, with a spokesperson saying the action “will not go unanswered,” threatening a tenuous truce enacted several years ago between the terror group and the Saudis. A spokesperson for the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is backed by Riyadh, said the Houthis subsequently fired ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia…
U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Monday that the country designated the IRGC as a terror organization, with those found guilty of supporting the group facing up to 14 years in prison. The government also banned the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, which No. 10 Downing St. said was behind a number of attacks on British Jewish sites…
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a press conference this afternoon that he is appointing Darline Graham Nordone, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) sister, to serve out the rest of Graham’s term. Trump had voiced his support for Nordone, who shared an exceptionally close bond with her brother, as “a fabulous tribute to Lindsey.” Fox Newsreported that Nordone could be sworn in as soon as Wednesday…
The Trump administration plans to launch a major diplomatic offensive against the International Criminal Court, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced today, the latest move in the White House’s longtime battle against the international organization.
The push appears to be rooted in concerns that the ICC will seek to prosecute American servicemembers, JI’s Gabby Deutch reports. Such actions would not only be “a grave overreach of its purported authorities,” Rubio wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, “it would mean the death of the U.S. as a sovereign and independent nation”…
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed that he would maintain ties with Morris Katz, the controversial political operative behind Mamdani’s own victory as well as the imploded campaign of former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, JI’s Will Bredderman reports, despite calls from members of the Democratic Socialists of America to boycott the consultant’s services…
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a member of the Squad and a vocal detractor of Israel, endorsed far-left Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed today, joining fellow Squad members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL) in backing him less than a month before the primary…
⏩ Tomorrow’s Agenda, Today
An early look at tomorrow’s storylines and schedule to keep you a step ahead
Keep an eye on Jewish Insider for a look at the surging anti-Israel candidate in the Democratic primary for Michigan‘s swing 7th Congressional District.
The sixth round of talks between Israel and Lebanon are slated to begin tomorrow in Rome, despite Beirut’s reported threat not to attend if the IDF did not vacate two pilot zones in southern Lebanon before the discussions. Israeli media reported that this week’s talks will focus on the timeline for the withdrawal.
The Aspen Security Forum, the high-profile annual gathering of national security leaders, policymakers and foreign policy experts, begins tomorrow afternoon in Colorado. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will speak on a panel on the “state of the world.”
The two-day Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), will kick off at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., with a keynote address from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
Some House Republicans were invited to a dinner tomorrow night with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to Punchbowl News, as the Trump administration is seeking more than $67 billion for the Pentagon in its supplemental funding request.
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The Houthis have spoken openly about their plans to initiate an invasion akin to Oct. 7 through Jordan and Syria
Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images
Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement brandish their weapons as they rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on April 10, 2026.
Like a desperate poker player holding an ace in the hole, Iran has a “strategic reserve” if the ceasefire in the war with Israel and the U.S. collapses and fighting resumes: the Houthis, the Tehran-backed Yemeni terrorist group.
How Iran plays the Houthi card has been the subject of concern in Israel, with analysts telling Jewish Insider that everything from a ground invasion from the east — with echoes of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, rampage in southern Israel — to making good on the threat to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to further choke off international shipping remains in play.
Yoni Ben-Menachem, a senior Middle East analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JI that the Houthis planned “to take revenge and bring back their honor” since Israel killed much of their leadership in August 2025.
“They see that Israel’s air defenses are strong, and it’s hard for them to reach military achievements with missiles and drones. They want to surprise Israel, so they are looking at ways to do it on the ground,” he said.
One scenario that Israel has actively prepared for, even before this year’s war with Iran, is a Houthi ground invasion via Syria and Jordan.
The IDF said in September that it has intelligence indicating that the Houthis initiated a training course named “Al Aqsa Flood,” as Hamas called the Oct. 7 attacks. The group planned to take advantage of the instability in Syria and political weaknesses in Jordan to invade Israel from the east, deploying tens of thousands of terrorists on a killing spree, heading toward Jerusalem. In January, the IDF’s Central Command led a training exercise, together with Israeli Border Patrol and police, on how to counter such a scenario.
In addition, the IDF has continued the construction of a security fence along the border with Jordan.
Yossi Mansharof, a lecturer at Haifa University, told JI that the Houthis speak openly about a possible land invasion in their media channels: “They say they intend to invade and … reach Dimona [in southern Israel], conquer [Israeli] towns.”
Mansharof said that while an invasion via the Red Sea and Eilat, at Israel’s southern tip, would be closer to the Houthis’ home base, such a move is “unrealistic; they would have to go undetected by the IDF.”
However, he said, the 186-mile border between Israel and Jordan is particularly porous, and if Hamas could break through the Gaza fence, as it did on Oct. 7, the Houthis may be able to do the same in Jordan. In addition, Iran has long worked to gain a foothold in Jordan.
“Iran is a shared enemy” of Israel and Jordan, Mansharof said. “Iran violates Jordanian sovereignty, and some of the missiles shot at Israel land in their territory. … Iran wants to establish terrorist infrastructure [in Jordan], and King Abdullah has said in Davos and in media interviews that he is concerned about Iran.”
In addition, Mansharof said, the Shi’a militias in Iraq, which shares a border with Jordan, have close ties with the Houthis.
A Houthi attack could also be part of an Iran-led multi-front assault on Israel, which Iranian officials — including a top advisor to Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and leader of negotiations with the U.S. — have spoken about for years, Mansharof said.
“They want to advance a mutli-front attack on Israel from all of the axis of resistance arenas,” Mansharof said. “They want to end the story, not just have more rounds of fighting [with Israel]. … A Houthi invasion can be part of that.”
Ben-Menachem argued that a more realistic scenario in the near term is that the Houthis would help the Iranians by blockading Bab el-Mandab, a strait passing from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, to cut off global shipping at a second point while the Strait of Hormuz, which is under Iranian control, remains closed. Saudi Arabia is reportedly especially concerned about this possibility, as the Gulf state uses the waterway to move much of its oil.
The Iranians have been saving the Houthis as their “strategic reserve” in case of renewed fighting with the U.S., Ben-Menachem said, and should the Yemeni terrorists join the war, “their target will be first the U.S. and then Israel.”
“The Iranians see that the most effective move is to pressure the U.S. and harm the world economy,” he said.
Still, Mansharof said, Israel “should not wait for the Houthis to take initiative. Israel needs to choose the timing [for military action], because at some point, the war with the Houthis will resume. … Israel needs to build advanced intelligence capabilities and cooperate with the Americans to create a jumping-off point. … It’s a just war of defense for Israel.”
Jerusalem’s recognition of Somaliland in December could provide Israel with a physical base for such an attack and would “break the supply chain of Iranian aid to the Houthis” from Somalia, which is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, Mansharof noted.
Ben-Menachem said Israel’s announcement last year that it had discovered the Houthis’ plan served to undermine it.
“Israel must repeatedly warn them and say they know what they’re planning. We shouldn’t take it off the agenda, talking about it is part of the deterrence … [The Houthis’] success depends on the element of surprise. If we show that they can’t surprise us, it will lower their motivation,” he said.
The lawmakers downplayed reports of a serious Gulf rift, with Rep. Brad Sherman calling the increasing disputes between neighbors ‘tactical, not ideological’
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud walks to his seat after speaking during the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center November 19, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Lawmakers in Washington are largely downplaying recent developments suggesting that Saudi Arabia is pivoting away from moderation and entertaining more hardline Islamism.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been at loggerheads in Sudan, Somalia and Yemen — including a recent Saudi airstrike on an Emirati shipment in southern Yemen — prompting questions about Riyadh’s continued interest in acting as a moderating force in the region.
Saudi Arabia has also sided with Muslim Brotherhood-aligned forces in other regional conflicts, is increasing its business ties with Qatar and softening its stance toward other Islamist powers hostile to Israel, among other steps, some analysts say.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, who came away from the meeting indicating that potential disputes or shifts in the kingdom had been overstated.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) — who has been critical of Saudi Arabia in the past — told Jewish Insider that Prince Faisal, in the meeting, sought to directly rebut claims that Saudi Arabia was pivoting away from a position of moderation.
The overall message from Prince Faisal, Sherman said, was “the Saudis claim that they are anti-Brotherhood and that the disputes with the UAE are tactical, not ideological.”
“Just because the Saudis are not Shiite does not mean they’re Zionists. No one should get too carried away. And I’m sure there are elements of the Saudi government that are not nearly anti-[Muslim] Brotherhood as much as they should be,” Sherman said. “That being said, I see a foreign minister who is not Qatar or Turkey.”
“If you’re worried about Israel, you should never put any of the countries we’re talking about here in the ‘don’t worry about it’ category — you’ve got to worry,” he continued. “But the foreign minister went out of his way to say that when it comes to the Brotherhood or Iran, that there’s less reason to worry about Saudi Arabia.”
He said that he expects Saudi Arabia and the UAE to come to an agreement on the anti-Houthi campaign to deconflict the situation — likely one which would see the UAE take a decreased role in Yemen.
Sherman also said he did not see evidence that Saudi Arabia has significantly accelerated or expanded its relationship with Qatar — though he also noted that Saudi-Qatari tensions have gradually eased over the past few years and particularly since the Arab League blockade of Qatar. Saudi Arabia signed a major deal earlier this month to link Riyadh and Doha with a high-speed rail line.
Even so, Sherman said he has other pre-existing concerns about Saudi Arabia, such as its pursuit of a nuclear program and bid to purchase F-35 fighter jets, neither of which was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also met with Prince Faisal. He said it was “great” to see the foreign minister and that the group had discussed various issues including Yemen, Sudan and Gaza.
“Saudi Arabia and UAE are very close, right? I mean, that’s an understatement,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told JI. “What I’m saying — everybody can have disagreements, spats, misunderstandings about different things, and that relationship is no different, but those two are two very, very close allies.”
“The U.S.-Saudi relationship remains a pillar of U.S. policy in the region,” Mast said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to build upon our decades-old alliance to help resolve some of the region’s most pressing and complex challenges.”
He dismissed concerns about a potential Saudi repositioning or clash with the UAE.
“Saudi Arabia and UAE are very close, right? I mean, that’s an understatement,” Mast told JI in a brief interview. “What I’m saying — everybody can have disagreements, spats, misunderstandings about different things, and that relationship is no different, but those two are two very, very close allies.”
A congressional source deeply involved in Middle East issues argued that ties between the Sudanese Armed Forces — the faction Saudi Arabia is backing in Sudan — and the Muslim Brotherhood have been overstated and that the Saudi decision to back the SAF is a tactical one rather than an ideological signal of alignment with the Brotherhood. The source said that the Saudis have indicated that they are working to push the Brotherhood elements out of the SAF faction.
And, the source emphasized, both sides in Sudan have committed significant atrocities, further noting that the Trump administration sanctioned the Rapid Support Forces — which successive U.S. governments have found is committing genocide. The source said that Saudi Arabian officials have been clear they do not want the U.S. to sanction the UAE over its alleged support for the RSF, as some in Abu Dhabi heard after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit.
Regarding the Saudi strike in Yemen, the source said that Saudi Arabia was concerned about anti-Saudi forces approaching its territory and that the shipment the UAE convoy was transporting was being provided to those forces.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said that there “a lot of concerns” about a Saudi dispute with the UAE in Yemen but that he is not “worried about [the Saudis] repositioning to an extreme point.”
“I don’t think we see that yet. There’s still a lot of conversations going on,” Mullin said. “I think that was just one of those regional things that sometimes we have a lack of understanding — or maybe understand it, but don’t understand it.”
Another lawmaker who has had conversations with individuals in the region said on condition of anonymity that — despite recent headlines — they did not believe that Saudi Arabia was making a fundamental pivot in its posture away from moderation or toward a more extremist Islamist stance.
The lawmaker added that the tensions between the two U.S. partners have been “surprising” but also noted there is a long and complex history between the two countries.
Addressing the Saudi-Emirati tensions, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged that the two countries had conveyed “different interests,” but did not appear concerned that their differences would alter the Saudis’ view of Iran as the top threat in the region.
“The UAE seems like they’re trying to diversify their sources of support in the region, and that’s a point of some disagreement between the Saudi leadership and UAE leadership,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told JI.
“I have no insight into what’s going on there, but clearly they’ve got different interests,” Ricketts told JI. “Saudi Arabia’s long-term interest is in a peaceful Middle East where they have allies to offset Iran. Saudi Arabia knows that in the region their worst enemy is Iran, and so they’re going to want allies to push back.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee as well as on Foreign Relations, said his primary concern was the UAE’s deepening ties with Russia.
“I mean, the UAE seems like they’re trying to diversify their sources of support in the region, and that’s a point of some disagreement between the Saudi leadership and UAE leadership,” Cornyn told JI.
“What worries me a little bit is UAE talking about allowing the Russians to build a military base there,” he continued. “They seem to be less convinced that they can rely on support from the United States and so they are looking for other friends. That concerns me.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) attributed the fissures to the situation in Sudan and instability in Yemen that neither country could independently solve, but said he had been informed that the Saudis and Emiratis had addressed their differences.
“Well, Yemen is a mess,” Kennedy said. “The UAE and the Saudis have been allies. Now, they recently got crossways, but I understand they got it worked out. I don’t know what else to say. I mean, Yemen is just, … it’s not a stable country.”
Pressed on the Gulf states having “worked out” their issues, the Louisiana senator responded, “Well, I think that got a lot of it worked out. The Saudis and UAE … they’re crossways in Sudan. They’re not always joined at the hip, so I wasn’t particularly shocked about it, but my understanding is they got it worked out.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he hadn’t been following all of the developments with Saudi Arabia’s regional posture but had been tracking the conflict in Sudan, where Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been backing opposing sides in the civil war. Warner emphasized that “neither one of them are the good guys,” referring to the UAE-aligned RSF and Saudi-aligned SAF.
“It does bother me, not just where [the Saudis] may be moving, but also just … in terms of bombing [in] Yemen,” Warner added, referring to the Saudi strike.
Warner, who led Intelligence Committee members on a visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2024, said that the Saudis were, at the time, “anxious to get normalization with Israel,” but the Gaza war interrupted that progress.
And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said the “instability” in the region — including the Saudi-UAE tensions — demonstrates the need for strong congressional oversight of “any agreement that’s reached with any of our potential partners there.
President Donald Trump recently announced a series of deals with Saudi Arabia, including selling the kingdom F-35 fighter jets and naming Riyadh a major non-NATO ally, without making public strides toward Saudi-Israeli normalization.
“And very bluntly, it reemphasizes that our one truly reliable ally in the Middle East is Israel,” Blumenthal continued.
Recent Saudi moves across Yemen, Sudan and the Horn of Africa — including a widening rift with the UAE and closer alignment with Qatar — are challenging long-held assumptions about Riyadh's regional posture
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud walks to his seat after speaking during the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center November 19, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Saudi Arabia is recalibrating its regional posture in ways that are challenging long-held assumptions about Riyadh’s role as a moderating force in the Middle East, as recent moves across Yemen, Sudan and the Horn of Africa expose the country’s widening rift with the United Arab Emirates and a growing alignment with Qatar and Turkey — two countries with openly hostile positions toward Israel.
The realignment has been most stark on the issue of Yemen, where Saudi Arabia led an airstrike on an Emirati shipment of vehicles on Tuesday which Riyadh claimed was intended for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which has consolidated power in the country’s south as Saudi-backed efforts to stabilize the war-torn nation have stalled. Hours after the strike, the Emirati government announced it would withdraw its remaining troops from the country.
The Saudis’ decision to embrace Islamist-aligned factions in Sudan, where the UAE is aligned with rival forces, has caused additional fissures with the Emiratis, putting the two U.S. allies and Gulf power players at odds.
The Gulf states have also taken opposite sides on Somalia, with the UAE quietly supportive of Somaliland, while Saudi Arabia condemned Israel for recognizing its independence and Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the move threatened the chances of Riyadh and Jerusalem establishing diplomatic relations.
These actions, taken together, have raised questions about Riyadh’s role as a moderating force in the region and potential partner for normalization with Israel.
“Yes, Saudi Arabia is moving away from its position of recent years,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday. “Since [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] came to power, he promised drastic change under the banner of ‘Saudi First.’”
Abdul-Hussain said that Saudi Arabia is “abandoning its past policy and distancing itself from the UAE and the moderate capitals and getting closer to Islamist Qatar and Turkey. … How far on the scale of Islamism the Saudis decide to go remains to be seen.”
“There have been two alliances competing in the region: A radical Islamist one led by Turkey and Qatar and allied with Iran and Pakistan and a moderate one led by Israel and UAE and allied with India, Greece and Cyprus,” Abdul-Hussain said. “While America has friends on both sides, it is clear that American national interests are served by taking the side of Israel, the UAE, India and Greece coalition against the rival axis.”
Nervana Mahmoud, a political commentator based in the U.K., told JI that while “it’s very difficult to read the strategic decisions within the kingdom because they don’t announce plans … I noticed a shift in the Saudi [posture] from mid-2024.”
Mahmoud said that the Saudi-UAE divergence has also expanded because of the Saudi’s softened stance on Qatar, something she argued reflects the kingdom’s acknowledgement of Doha’s growing influence both in the region and globally, specifically pointing to Qatar’s positive standing with the Trump administration.
“I see the Saudis saying, ‘We cannot defeat the Islamists, but we can influence [them], using them for strategic influence,’” Nervana Mahmoud, a political commentator based in the U.K., told JI. “They think they can influence Islamists rather than be fooled by them. Before Islamists were infiltrating Saudi, now Saudi thinks [they’re] powerful enough to influence and tame them to serve strategic interests. I see that as wishful thinking.”
Saudi Arabia has improved ties with Qatar, ending a blockade on Doha in 2021 and signing a deal earlier this month to link Riyadh and Doha with a high-speed rail.
The UAE, meanwhile, has expressed concerns over Doha’s influence in Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including its potential role in post-war Gaza, as well as Qatar’s Islamist ties.
“I see the Saudis saying, ‘We cannot defeat the Islamists, but we can influence [them], using them for strategic influence,’” Mahmoud told JI. “They think they can influence Islamists rather than be fooled by them. Before Islamists were infiltrating Saudi, now Saudi thinks [they’re] powerful enough to influence and tame them to serve strategic interests. I see that as wishful thinking.”
Mahmoud pointed to Saudi Arabia’s engagement in Syria where Riyadh has supported efforts to rehabilitate Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and encourage engagement with the Trump administration, despite Al-Sharaa’s Islamist background. Israel, meanwhile, has taken a more suspicious view of al-Sharaa and has thus far failed to secure a security agreement with Damascus.
Another cause for concern has been the Saudis’ reticence to engage on joining the Abraham Accords, despite publicly expressing willingness to normalize relations with Israel on condition of the establishment of a pathway to Palestinian statehood and a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Since 9/11, and especially since MBS came to power in 2015, Saudi Arabia made enormous effort to distance itself away from Muslim Brotherhood and Islamism,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said. Now, “Saudi is getting closer to all Islamist, anti-Israel, anti-West governments, whether it’s Iran and Pakistan or Qatar and Turkey.”
Mahmoud accused Riyadh of “playing the game” on the normalization issue, saying that the kingdom had continued to signal interest in joining the Abraham Accords while “always [having] an excuse not to.”
“The excuses will never end,” Mahmoud told JI of the Saudis, adding that the kingdom was “trying to be on the good side of [President Donald] Trump.”
Riyadh’s shift away from moderate Gulf states has also been marked by diverging views on how to approach the Muslim Brotherhood. While Qatar has long sponsored the Islamist movement’s actions, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have historically taken a harsher stance against the group, proscribing it as a terrorist organization, aligned with the Trump administration’s recent moves to do the same.
“There was a period from 2017 to 2021 where the Saudis, Emiratis and Bahrainis completely isolated Qatar because they considered the Qataris as sponsoring the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Muslim Brotherhood meant harm to the political systems in Saudi and UAE and Bahrain,” Edmun Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former British diplomat who served in Kuwait, told JI.
Abdul-Hussain argued that there has been “some reversal” on Saudi Arabia’s reputation as a moderate actor on the brotherhood, creating a potentially concerning landscape for Israel and dampening efforts toward normalization.
“Since 9/11, and especially since MBS came to power in 2015, Saudi Arabia made enormous effort to distance itself away from Muslim Brotherhood and Islamism,” Abdul-Hussain said. Now, “Saudi is getting closer to all Islamist, anti-Israel, anti-West governments, whether it’s Iran and Pakistan or Qatar and Turkey.”
The president said the terror group had agreed to stop its attacks on international shipping lanes
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had called off the U.S. bombing campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen after the terrorist group told the Trump administration this week that “they don’t want to fight anymore.”
Trump made the comments, which he described as “very good news,” while speaking to reporters from the Oval Office ahead of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they’ve announced to us at least, that they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight, and we will honor that, and we will stop the bombings,” Trump said. “They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing.”
The president added that his team had “just found out” about the developments, which he called “very, very positive.”
Israel conducted intensive strikes against the Houthis on Monday and Tuesday after the terror group struck Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport complex over the weekend, injuring six.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi Political Council, told Bloomberg News that the group may stop attacking U.S. ships if the bombardment stops “but we will definitely continue our operations in support to Gaza” and that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and against Israel “will not stop regardless of the consequences until the end of the aggression on Gaza and blockade on its people.”
The foreign minister of Oman, Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, said in a statement that “recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana’a … have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides. In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.”
Trump told reporters, “They were not going to have a lot of ships going, as you know, sailing beautifully down the various seas. It wasn’t just the canal, it was out of other places. And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately,” later adding in response to a question about the news, “They don’t want to be bombed anymore. I sort of thought that would happen.”
Trump then turned to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the change in strategy, who stated, “This was always a freedom of navigation issue. These guys are a band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping. And the job was to get that to stop, and if it’s going to stop, then we can stop. And so I think it’s an important development.”
At odds with the Trump administration’s foreign policy, Vance called the strikes a ‘mistake’ that would constitute ‘bailing out Europe’
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Vice President J.D. Vance and President Donald Trump
Vice President J.D. Vance expressed deep reservations about the U.S. conducting strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this month in a private group chat with other senior administration officials, according to a bombshell report by The Atlantic.
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, reported on Monday that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz had inadvertently added him to a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging application, with Vance and numerous Cabinet-level officials. Goldberg reported that Vance told the group chat, which debated and detailed the Trump administration’s plans to launch the strikes, that he thought they should hold off on the mission.
“Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake,” Vance reportedly texted the group on the morning of March 14. “3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” Vance continued. “There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back on Vance’s arguments, explaining why he believed it would be a mistake to wait to conduct the strikes.
“Waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus. 2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or Gaza cease fire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms. We can manage both. We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no go vote, I believe we should,” Hegseth wrote to the group.
“This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered. But, we can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC,” Hegseth continued, referring to operational security.
Vance replied directly to Hegseth shortly after, writing: “[I]f you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
The comments underscore that Vance’s views are at odds with the prevailing foreign policy view in the Trump administration, and aligned with an isolationist wing of GOP foreign policy circles that has sought to expand its influence. By suggesting that Europe benefits more than the United States from the U.S. Navy’s protection of the Red Sea shipping lanes, he downplayed the national security threat posed by the Houthis in threatening international waterways.
(After the strikes against the Houthis, the Trump White House issued a statement reiterating the American interest in the region: “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”)
A user with the initials SM — believed to be Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House and a close Trump advisor — replied to these messages by suggesting the U.S. expects some recompense from its allies for carrying out the strikes.
“As I heard it, the president was clear: green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return,” the user wrote. “We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. EG, if Europe doesn’t remunerate, then what? If the U.S. successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return.”
A spokesperson for Vance said in a statement to Jewish Insider on Monday, “The Vice President’s first priority is always making sure that the President’s advisers are adequately briefing him on the substance of their internal deliberations. Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy. The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.”
The statement did not address whether the vice president did believe or still believes that striking the Houthis serves U.S. national security interests.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement, “At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security.”
The leaked messages also revealed that senior Pentagon advisor Dan Caldwell and Joe Kent, the nominee to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center — subordinate to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — had been named as the lead deputies coordinating the operation for the Defense Department and ODNI.
Caldwell, a Koch network alumnus, took a leading role in the Pentagon transition process, helping to bring on a series of isolationist foreign policy hires into the Pentagon. Caldwell himself faced scrutiny for calls for the U.S. to pull back from the Middle East.
Kent, who is reportedly acting in an advisory role at ODNI before his confirmation, has past ties to white supremacists and neo-Nazis and promoted conspiracy theories.
The revelations have prompted immediate backlash from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill.
“Classified information should not be transmitted on unsecured channels — and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said. “Safeguards must be put in place to ensure this never happens again.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said that the messages should not have been shared on unclassified systems, adding that U.S. adversaries are likely monitoring Hegseth’s personal phone.
“If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said.
Leaders of multiple intelligence agencies are set to appear before the Senate and House Intelligence committee on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, where they’re likely to face fierce scrutiny from Democrats over the security breach.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, posted an image mocking Hegseth. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he was “horrified” by the reports and that they were illegal and posed “calamitous risks.”
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