Letter to the Editor: ‘Defeating the Houthis: Israel’s Red Sea Imperative’

I was disappointed to read an extremely misleading op-ed by Habtom Ghebrezghiabher full of falsehoods, misinformation, and irrelevant and irresponsible prescriptions. As a former Israeli deputy minister of defense, minister of health and minister of transportation, I had extensive and very positive dealings with Eritrea and its leaders, including President Isaias Afwerki, over many years. I have also visited Eritrea numerous times since Eritrea’s independence in 1993. Eritrea is a friendly country that has had considerable and significant cooperation with Israel through those years.

While unfortunately, current relations between Israel and Eritrea are not as warm as they should be (for various and complicated reasons), Israel certainly does not view Eritrea in any way as a hostile country. Eritrea, while imperfect, has a stellar record of fighting Islamic extremism, including a central role — together with Saudi Arabia and UAE — in fighting the Houthis in Yemen (and way before Israel was forced to take military action against them). Eritrea is a strong and stable country where there is no ethnic or religious violence. That is more than can be said for many other countries in the Horn of Africa. No Israeli government will engage in any efforts to undermine Eritrea, and any suggestion to the contrary is preposterous, despicable and highly irresponsible.

General (R.) Dr. Ephraim Sneh, Herzlia, Israel

The writer is a retired general and former deputy defense minister, minister of health, and minister of transportation in various Israeli governments.