News - Yemen: A speech by Tariq Afash, deputy head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, has drawn sharp condemnation after he openly called for cooperation with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service against Yemen’s Armed Forces. The remarks, viewed as a major breach of national and regional red lines, have been described as a dangerous shift in the trajectory of the conflict.

According to the speech, Afash went beyond suggesting tactical coordination and urged for Mossad’s deeper involvement inside Yemen. He reportedly called for opening communication channels with pro-coalition factions aligned with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and advocated arming and financing them through Israeli support.

Afash justified this stance as the “only way” to weaken Yemen’s Armed Forces, who have bolstered the Palestinian resistance and targeted Israeli-linked maritime assets over the past two years. He proposed a two-pronged approach: arming local militias to destabilize Yemen internally, and forming an international alliance that includes Israel to pressure Sana’a from abroad.

The controversial remarks highlight a stark contrast between Sana’a’s leadership, which has aligned itself with Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive, and Afash’s camp, which critics say is openly entertaining normalization with the Israeli entity. Observers argue that the call exposes the desperation of pro-coalition factions and signals their willingness to align with long-standing adversaries in pursuit of political survival.

Tariq Afash, nephew of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, commands forces based on Yemen’s western coast and has long been accused by opponents of acting as a proxy for Saudi and Emirati interests. His recent remarks come at a time when Sana’a is under intensified US-Israeli airstrikes, largely in response to Yemen’s ongoing missile and drone campaigns against the Israeli enemy in solidarity with Gaza.

The Presidential Leadership Council, formed in Riyadh in 2022, has faced internal divisions and diminishing influence on the ground. Afash’s statements underscore the fractures within anti-Sana’a factions and their willingness to consider alliances once thought politically untouchable.