Israel, US Defending Europe by Battling Iranian Axis

Tuesday, 8 April 2025 | Israel and the United States are fighting on behalf of Europe—if not most of the world—by battling the Iran and their terror proxies including the Houthi in Yemen. And both nations recognize that responsibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to Hungary last week, said in comments published by Israel, “We will smash the Iranian axis, the Iranian terror axis which threatens not only us but Europe and many of our neighbors in the Middle East. We’re committed to doing so. By doing that, we’re also protecting Europe.”

That Iranian axis has waged a multi-front battle against Israel, but terror groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthi have also attacked targets from around the world over the years. In the last 18 months, that has been especially true of the Yemeni militants, who have targeted international shipping. While the US is leading the fight against the Houthi, Israel has also been involved.

Netanyahu said that while not everyone in Europe recognizes the international benefits of Israel fighting the Iranian axis on their behalf, some like Hungarian President Viktor Orban do. Said Netanyahu, “He understands this common battle for our values, for our interests and for our common security.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a similar observation on Friday. In comments to reporters published by the State Department, Rubio said, “On the Houthis, everybody wants to get their ships through the Red Sea. We’re the only ones doing anything about it, but everyone wants to get their ships through there. As I said, we’ve done the world a great favor by taking on this band of criminals who have unfortunately sophisticated weaponry that they can use to—I mean, they’ve attacked, what, 150, 160 merchant vessels—174 times they’ve attacked the United States Navy?”

“So I think the world should be grateful to the United States for being involved in this and doing this… We think that mission is going to bear fruit and it’s necessary.”

Some of that fruit was borne out last week, as the Telegraph reported that Iran called for its military personnel to exit Yemen in the midst of American attacks. Furthermore, there are reports that the US bombardments have killed multiple senior Houthi members. That includes comments made on Saturday on X by Moammar Al-Eryani, the Information Minister for the internationally-backed Yemen government opposing the Houthi. Al-Eryani said on X (formerly Twitter) that a recent US attack “resulted in the killing of several prominent Houthi leaders, including a ‘valuable catch,’ in addition to experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”

He later continued, “The video clip released by the US command proves the accuracy and significance of the strike, confirming that it targeted a military gathering comprising field commanders and missile and drone operators. This reflects US military and intelligence superiority and refutes any claims of targeting civilians. It also demonstrates that these operations are not random, but rather qualitative strikes targeting sites that pose a direct threat to international navigation and the security and stability of the region.”

But it isn’t just Western and Middle East allies who are benefitting from the US and Israeli fight against Iran and its proxies. Israel has their own haunting memories of Iran’s malice as well, and Netanyahu made a point of reminding his audience of that on Thursday. It’s also the purpose behind their mission that they won’t forget.

“Radical Islam in the Middle East is spearheaded by one country, and that is Iran,” said Netanyahu. “It has proxies: The three H’s, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and others, but the center is Iran. We were attacked by Iran’s proxies in a murderous campaign by Hamas’s terrorists who raped our women, beheaded our men, burned our babies and took hostages. We’re committed to bring back home all of them.”