The State of Israel and the Republic of Yemen do not have diplomatic relations. Since Israel's formal establishment in 1948, Yemen and its predecessors (the Kingdom of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic in the North, and South Yemen in the South) have repeatedly denounced Israel in the context of regional conflicts with Palestine and the wider Arab world. Since the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, direct strikes between the Houthis and Israel have taken place.
Holders of an Israeli passport or any passport with an Israeli stamp are barred entry to Yemen and Yemen is classified as an "enemy state" under Israeli law.
History Yemen occupies a strategic position at the entrance to the Red Sea and controls the Bab-el-Mandeb, Israel's outlet to the Indian Ocean and the Far East. Yemenite Jews once formed a sizable Jewish minority in Yemen with a distinct culture but most of them immigrated (ethnically and religiously expelled) to Israel in the mid-20th century.
In February 1948, Imam Yahya was assassinated and Ahmad bin Yahya came to power. The new Imam called upon all Arabs to unite against the Zionist State. He promised to provide Egypt with assistance in the war against Israel, but his contributions were minor. After the Arab defeat and establishment of the State of Israel, he feared that Israel might demand reparations for Jewish property in Yemen. Thinking this, he swiftly set in motion a plan for Jewish emigration en masse; referred to as "Operation Magic Carpet", the effort would see nearly 50,000 Jews flying safely out of Yemen.Jews And Muslims In Lower Yemen: A Study In Protection And Restraint 1918–1949
In 1964, an Egyptian pilot, Captain Abbas Hilmi defected to Israel and told his interrogators that the Egyptians were using poison gas against the Yemeni Royalists. In an effort to rid itself of the Egyptian military force, the Royalist government appealed to the UAR to send forces to fight against Israel.Without Glory in Arabia: The British Retreat from Aden (International Library of Colonial History), Peter Hinchcliffe
In an attempt to explore the underlying reasons for the Six-Day War, observers concluded that both the U.S. and Great Britain sought the withdrawal of Egyptian forces from Yemen and that the war's objective was to restore the Royalist regime. Many Yemenis were convinced that Israel was behind this maneuver. Rumors spread in South Yemen that shortly before their withdrawal from there, the British collaborated with Israel in an attempt to crush the tribes of Southern Arabia in order to prolong their colonial rule.
Following the Six-Day War, Yemen severed its diplomatic relations with the US due to "Washington's blind support to Israel against the Arab cause in Palestine" and condemned Israel for its occupation of Palestinian land.Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967–1987, Fred Halliday The division of Yemen into two countries following Britain's withdrawal was a source of major concern for the Israelis. A Yemeni government official assured the Americans that "North Yemen would do nothing to undermine U.S. peace efforts in the current Egyptian–Israeli talks to implement the Camp David agreements." In the early fall of 1987, relatively little attention was paid to the Arab-Israeli conflict due to the fact that the threat from Iran became the Arab world's primary occupation, and the YAR was just as concerned about the Iranian threat as its neighbors in South Arabia.
South Yemen On 22 June 1969, the Corrective Move led to the overthrow of Qahtan al-Shaabi and brought Salim Rubaya Ali to the Presidency.Jewish Emigration from the Yemen 1951–98: Carpet Without Magic
The foreign policy resolutions of the Unification Congress of October 1975 called for support for the Palestinians. Reacting to Israel's raids in south Lebanon, Abd al-Fattah Ismail, a spokesman for South Yemen, attested to the close link with the Arab liberation movement in its entirety.Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967–1987 (Cambridge Middle East Library) by Fred Halliday In February 1977, Yasser Arafat was cordially received in Aden where he was referred to as "Brother Arafat the President of Palestine," and In March 1977, President Rubiyya Ali met the Somali, Sudanese and YAR chiefs of state in Taiz, in order to consider means of consolidating Arab solidarity "in order to confront Israel's aggressive policy and the Zionist forces supporting it". Responding to accusations made by Washington that South Yemen supported terrorism, Foreign Ministry officials in Aden claimed that supporting the just cause of national liberation movements, suppressed by Zionist imperialist and racist regimes did not constitute an act of terrorism.
Yet after the 1973 blockade, Yemen did not interrupt the free navigation of Israeli ships originating from Eilat, and when Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin visited Aden in September 1979, South Yemen was prepared to accept the principle of freedom of navigation for all ships from "all adjoining states". At the same time, officials in Aden continued to express solidarity of their Arab neighbors. Therefore, in 1976 South Yemen sent troops as part of the Arab deterrent force in Lebanon, and when Ali Nasser Muhammad visited Moscow in February 1978, the joint communique issued by the two governments condemned the Israeli-Egyptian dialogue.Yemen Foreign Policy and Government Guide
In 1982, South Yemen went along with the North Yemen's proposal to host PLO forces after their eviction from Lebanon by the Israelis. In 1983, it played a major diplomatic role in restoring unity within the Palestinian camp.Perilous Prospects: The Peace Process And The Arab-israeli Military Balance
After reunification Covert negotiations regarding the transfer of Jews to Israel were denied by San'a. In an interview to Radio Amman, Yemen's Deputy Information Minister Abd-al-Rahman al-Akwa denied reports from Israeli and American sources that attempts were being made to transfer Yemeni Jews to Israel. When the London Sunday Times reported that Israel was preparing to airlift Yemeni Jews to Israel, Yemeni sources denied that San'a decided to expel the Jews and added that "Yemeni citizens, including Jews have the right to travel to any country except Israel. Ariel Sharon, who later became Israel's Minister of Housing was reported to have said that 1,600 Yemeni Jews were about to emigrate to Israel, and Integration Minister Rabbi Yitzhak Perez stated that Israel was using "secret efforts to bring 1,500 Jews from Yemen." In May 1992, Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic announced that a "responsible" Yemeni source has denied the veracity of the report about the immigration of Jews. In the spring of 1993, Israeli sources said that some 100 Jews immigrated secretly to Israel. Attempting to cover up the immigration issue, Yemeni sources said that prominent Jews had asked for protection against Israeli attempts to coerce them to immigrate to Israel.
In the autumn of 1993, Saleh met Mousa Abu Marzook, head of the Hamas Political Bureau. The President of Yemen expressed full support for the Palestinian struggle, and they discussed ways to bring all Palestinian factions to agree on a common strategy. In an interview with an Egyptian weekly, Saleh said that his country would be willing to host a meeting of all Palestinian factions, in order to discuss their differences and bring unity to their ranks. In another interview with a London-based Arabic newspaper, Basindwah said that Yemen would exert every effort in order to reconcile all factions within the Palestinian camp and called on the Palestinians to prevent Israel from benefiting from the dissension in their ranks. When interviewed by the Egyptian press, Basindwah said that his government would support any decision made by the Palestinians. And when asked about the future of the Palestinian forces stationed in Yemen, he said that: "The Palestinian forces stationed in Yemen are actually in their homeland. But whether they decide to stay or leave is a matter for the PLO to decide."A History of Modern Yemen, Paul Dresch
Despite its willingness to moderate its attitude towards Israel, San'a was not ready to take any step which might trigger Arab criticism against it. Even reports regarding the relaxation of the Arab Boycott against Israel by Oman and other Gulf countries did not inspire the Yemeni government to follow suit. In a statement to Al Ahram, Basindwah said that his country was not ready to end the boycott of Israel before a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East became reality.
The Yemeni government seemed determined to maintain friendly relations with Egypt, even though the latter concluded a peace agreement with Israel. During his visit to Cairo in August 1993, Basindwah said: "The relations between Yemen and Egypt are deep rooted. These relations were baptized by blood when the Egyptian people and Army helped Yemen during our revolution against the defunct imams' rule and British colonialism". In an interview with an Egyptian newspaper, Saleh expressed his country's unqualified support for Egypt.
In March 1994, Sheikh Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani, member of the Yemeni Presidential Council warned against what he regarded as a foreign and Zionist scheme to partition Yemen into several stateless in order to make it easier to control its oil wealth and strategic location, especially in the strait of Bab el Mandab. In 1995, Yemen and Eritrea had a conflict over the strategic Hanish islands in the Red Sea. The Yemenis were convinced that Israel was involved in the conflict. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abd-al-Karim al-Iryani said in a news conference:
While waging a verbal campaign against Israel, Yemen continued to collaborate closely with Iran and Iraq. It denounced U.S. policy toward Iraq and assisted Saddam Hussein on every occasion. According to the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, 19 Iraqi pilots were being trained in Yemen in the fall of 1993. According to Iran's Minister of the Interior, Ali Mohammad Besharati, the promotion of his country's relations with Yemen was a pivotal feature of Iranian diplomacy.Zeev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security & Foreign Policy
In February 1996, Abd-al-Wahhab Darawsha and Talab al-Sani, both leaders of the Democratic Party and Knesset members arrived in San'a at the invitation of the Yemeni parliament, the House of Representatives. The Yemeni government did not give publicity to their visit.Maoz, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security & Foreign Policy
In the spring of 1996, Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Abd al-Karim al-Iryani said that his government was deeply suspicious of what he called "the Zionist entity's intentions and seriousness in the search for peace". Yemen's Prime Minister, Faraj Said Bin Ghanem discussed issues of national security with his Egyptian counterpart, Kamal Ganzouri and Assistant Yemeni Foreign Minister, Eid Ali Abdel Rahman told news reporters that San'a would not take any steps towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel until the latter agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In October 2008, security forces arrested six alleged Islamist militants linked to Israeli intelligence. In March 2009, a state security court sentenced 27-year-old Abdullah al-Haidari to death after convicting him of establishing contacts with the office of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. A three-year prison term for another convict in the case, Emad Ali al-Raimi, 24, was also confirmed by the appeals court. The court also lowered the sentence for a third convict Ali Abdullah al-Mahfal, 25, from five to three years.Sanaa SABA Online in English, 16 February 2009 The three remaining suspects were released before trial, due to lack of evidence.