Israel was shocked when the US suddenly announced the halt of the military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, saying that a “ceasefire” had been reached and the Houthis agreed not to attack US ships. According to a New York Times report on Monday, President Donald Trump decided to halt the offensive against the Houthis in Yemen after realizing it was an expensive campaign that was not yielding significant results. The initial military plan against the Houthis was a months-long military campaign of powerful airstrikes to destroy Houthi air defenses, followed by targeted assassinations, largely modeled on Israel’s war agaist Hezbollah. Wary of becoming embroiled in another expensive US military engagement in the Middle East, Trump wanted to see results within 30 days of the opening strikes two months ago. He requested a progress report on Day 31. According to the report he received, the US had not even established air superiority over the Houthis. The Houthis had intercepted several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and were continuing to fire at ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier. The dismal results came at a high price, with the first month alone costing about $1 billion in weapons and munitions. Additionally, some Pentagon officials were horrified by the large number of precise munitions used in that one month, fearing that the US would drain its supply of munitions and be unable to intervene in the case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Trump wanted out. His Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who was already involved in Omani-mediated nuclear talks with Iran, brought him an Omani proposal that the US halt the bombing campaign in exchange for a Houthi commitment to refrain from targeting US ships in the Red Sea. Attacks on other ships, especially those the Houthis deemed as “linked to Israel,” or attacks on Israel itself, were not part of the agreement. On May 5, U.S. Central Command officials received a sudden order from the White House to “pause” attacks. The report added that the decision to halt the offensive in Yemen was contrary to the opinion of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Michael Kurilla. Those who convinced Trump to stop the operation were Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)