Why does it depend on an effective Saudi role in ending the war in Yemen?

Optimistic expectations agree on the possibility of a significant military development to change the reality imposed by the coup of September 21, 2014, which overthrew the most important political democratic transformation in the history of Yemen, in light of a number of indicators that include, among others, notable field movements and talk about identifying the arenas nominated for the upcoming confrontations, while all eyes are on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which holds the decision of war and peace and is consecrating what can be described as an unprecedented paralysis of the political will of the leaders of Yemeni legitimacy.

Saudi Arabia had taken advanced steps towards reaching a settlement deal for the war with the Houthi coup plotters, under hostile pressure from the previous US administration, which prompted Riyadh to undertake the most dangerous maneuver to settle an issue in a geography that falls within its security and geopolitical priorities, and it was forced to implement it under threat of losing its partnership with the United States, which turned a blind eye to Iran’s dangerous escalation towards the Kingdom, especially in 2019.

Today, everything seems possible to achieve an honorable settlement to the war in Yemen, if this is done on fraternal, religious, and moral foundations that take into account the interests of the neighboring Yemeni people, honest dealings with them and their state, and full readiness for a long-term partnership that allows for ending decades of anxious coexistence and lurking neighborhood.

In the Arab coalition’s “Operation Decisive Storm” and “Operation Restoring Hope,” while its two main countries were somewhat in harmony, the coalition faced strong opposition from Western circles that were able to influence the governments’ decisions. It even reached the point where the United States of America ended its logistical cooperation with its most important partner in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia. The Arab coalition was largely demonized and included on the UN’s blacklists, including the list of child killers, which we saw was completely closed during the war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Today, any military action targeting the Houthi group will not face the same challenges, nor the same level of opposition from influential Western circles or governments.

But the real challenge that contributes to depriving the Yemeni people from ending this tragic chapter of the war, unfortunately, lies at the heart of the ambiguous partnership between the two former coalition states; Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have reached a sharp crossroads, and are only united by the common legacy of the war in Yemen, which is represented by the physical military presence and the affiliated local partners, especially the armed groups outside the Ministries of Defense and Interior, which are the forces that hinder the Yemeni state from regaining its health, influence and sovereignty, and divert the course of the confrontation in bad directions, the worst of which is accepting the Houthi coup and pushing Yemen towards disintegration.

Nothing stands in the way of ending the war in Yemen and restoring peace, stability and the necessary recovery for the largest people in the Arabian Peninsula except this tragic encroachment on the Yemeni sovereign decision, on the part of our brothers whose military mission in our country since March 23, 2015 has carried a name that is full of nobility, which is the “Coalition to Support Legitimacy.”

However, hopes will remain pinned on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it is the regional party that has placed the legitimate authority under its full influence, while the fate of geography imposes the inevitable choice of coexistence with it. This fate, which has relied over the past decades on a surplus of financial and military power in favor of Saudi Arabia, has had a bitter harvest for the two countries, which necessitates a reconsideration of coexistence, partnership, and a prudent outlook for the future, while relying on a solid foundation of a sense of brotherhood, mutual respect, and a common destiny.

(Arabic 21)