Why did the Biden administration decide to take the Houthis off their list of terror groups?

Oh, because the Trump administration had designated the Yemeni terrorist group as an official “FTO” – foreign terrorist organization – and Team Biden was anxious to restore the Iran Deal as soon as possible. So less than a month after being inaugurated, Biden lifted the FTO designation on the Houthis in February 2021.

President Donald Trump’s administration had branded the Iranian-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, a move that limited the provision of aid to the beleaguered Yemeni people, who have suffered under a yearslong civil war and famine.

A State Department official confirmed the move Friday after members of Congress were notified of the administration’s plans. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the removal changed nothing about the Biden administration’s views of the Houthis, who have targeted civilians and kidnapped Americans.

“Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” the official said.

The move comes a day after Biden announced an end to offensive support to Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Houthis.

Oh, what a difference nearly three years and a war fueled by Iranian support to Gaza makes.

pic.twitter.com/tLlfJSLGCQ

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 21, 2023

So what brought about the change? The Houthis have been trying to get themselves involved in the Hamas war because they want in on trying to kill Israelis. They fired off missiles on October 19th, which were shot down by the USS Carney in the northern Red Sea. But the proverbial last straw, that finally had the Biden administration considering the FTO designation again, was the hijacking of a supposedly Israeli-owned ship back on November 19th. The Houthis were looking for Jews. Spoiler alert: there weren’t any.

Statement from IDF: The hijacking of the cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very serious event on a global level. This is a ship that left Turkey on its way to India with an international civilian crew, without Israelis.
This is not an Israeli ship. https://t.co/8tTDeN31Od

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 19, 2023

The ship’s Japanese operator, NYK Line, said the vessel had no cargo at the time of the hijacking. Its crewmembers are from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico, NYK said.

Japan on Monday condemned the hijacking. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the Japanese government was doing its utmost for an early release of the crew through negotiations with Houthi rebels, while also communicating with Israel and cooperating with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran.

Authorities confirmed Monday that the captain and the first mate on the Galaxy Leader were Bulgarians.

Two U.S. defense officials confirmed that Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday afternoon local time. The rebels descended on the cargo ship by rappelling from a helicopter, the officials said, confirming details first reported by NBC News. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

The ship’s seizure resembles others previously conducted by Iran, which has long armed the Houthis.

The Galaxy Leader is now docked in Yemen, with its crew under the control of the Houthis and, allegedly, the Yemeni Navy.

The Galaxy Leader, a Bermuda-flagged car carrier chartered by Japanese shipping company NYK, was illegally boarded by armed assailants via helicopter on November 19 as it transited the Red Sea. The ship, which reportedly has ties to an Israeli businessman, has been taken to the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, where it remains at anchor.

Video released by Hamas this week allegedly shows the Commander of Yemeni Navy speaking to crew members on the bridge of the ship.

Commander of the Yemeni Navy to the crew of Israeli-owned cargo ship Galaxy Leader:

"We consider all of the crew as Yemeni people. Anything you want, we will bring it. You can consider Yemen as your own country." pic.twitter.com/KpzrNJEFXl

— روني الدنماركي (@Aldanmarki) November 22, 2023

Anyone think that if the Houthis had found Israeli crewmembers, they would have been quite so “welcoming”? And they might be telling the crew to chill and relax, but neither the crew or the ship is being allowed to leave. Which brings us to Sunday, and the next apparent attempt by the Houthis to hijack a vessel that they think is linked to Israel. This time, the United States Navy was nearby.

U.S. Navy personnel from the USS Mason, a Mayport-based Arleigh Burke class destroyer assigned to the Eastern Mediterranean, responded to the distress call from the Liberian-flagged Central Park, carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid in the Gulf of Aden.

The vessel is managed by Zodiac Maritime, a London-based international ship management company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

A Zodiac spokesperson told Fox News Digital the vessel issued a distress call around 6 a.m. UTC Sunday morning stating it was under attack by suspected pirates while transiting the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTV) some 54 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

Sources told Fox that five armed gunmen seized the tanker after boarding from a skiff by pulling up alongside the tanker. The crew locked themselves in the Citadel.

The gunmen tried to beat down the door to the safe room before exiting the ship and making their way back to the shores of Yemen.

U.S. Navy personnel pursued the subjects, firing warning shots as a U.S. helicopter gunship flew overhead. A Japanese destroyer assisted the USS Mason with the interdiction. The subjects were arrested and are now being questioned by the U.S. military under counter-piracy authorities.

Zodiac said the vessel “is safe and all of the crew, the vessel, and the cargo are unharmed.”

While no group has claimed credit yet, Yemen is blaming the Houthis.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

“The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park,” the statement read.

Well done to the U.S. Navy and the crew of the USS Mason for their actions in preventing another hijacking and seizure. But now back to why the Houthis ever made it off the terror list in the first place.

The Biden administration has wasted time, money, and effort trying to suck up to Iran. Their entire goal has been to restart the Iran Deal in an attempt to salvage Barack Obama’s legacy. This has backfired in their faces beyond their wildest imaginations, and the Iran Deal, despite the attempt to still keep giving the mullahs money, is deader than dead. The Houthis have proved that they are terrorists, and no wishcasting on the part of Team Biden will change that. So, will they re-designate the Houthis as a FTO? At some point, they will have to, but they will do it with as little fanfare as possible. To draw any attention to it would be to admit that the Trump administration WAS RIGHT. And we can’t have THAT.

Featured image: USS Carney shoots down Houthi missiles on October 19, 2023 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau, cropped, public domain)