Netanyahu Blames Iran for Houthi Attack on Israeli Airport, Vows Measured Response

By: Fern Sidman

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a sharp warning on Sunday, holding Iran directly responsible for the attack by Houthi rebels on Israel’s Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, and promising that Israel will respond decisively—though at a time and method of its own choosing.

As was reported on Sunday at VIN News, Netanyahu’s statement followed a significant escalation in regional hostilities, with the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents in Yemen launching a drone and missile assault on Israel’s principal gateway for international travel. Although the attack was ultimately thwarted by Israeli defense systems, its symbolism and implications have reverberated across the region and drawn international attention.

“President Trump is absolutely right,” Netanyahu said in a formal statement shared with VIN News. “Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport and, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”

This unambiguous declaration from the Israeli leader aligns closely with statements made in recent days by President Trump, who also accused the Iranian regime of directing and enabling proxy aggression throughout the Middle East. Netanyahu’s emphasis on Trump’s support called attention to the continued strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel, particularly when it comes to confronting Iranian regional ambitions.

This latest incident highlights the growing reach and brazenness of Iran’s network of proxy militias. Tehran has long been accused of arming, funding, and training a constellation of groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, as was explained in the VIN News report.  Each of these organizations shares a common objective: to destabilize Israeli security and undermine Western influence across the Middle East.

In recent months, Houthi attacks have expanded beyond maritime threats in the Red Sea to include increasingly long-range strikes aimed directly at Israeli territory. The targeting of Israel’s international airport marks a dangerous escalation in both symbolism and potential civilian impact.

Senior Israeli defense officials, speaking anonymously to VIN News, confirmed that the attack at Ben Gurion airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, involved both ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones—some of which were intercepted in midair by Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling defense systems. The systems successfully neutralized the threat, but the psychological and strategic implications were significant.

“This was not just a message from Yemen. This was a message from Tehran,” one senior security official said. “The Houthis don’t act independently in these matters. Their targeting of critical Israeli infrastructure is a direct extension of Iran’s expanding aggression.”

While Netanyahu did not outline the specific nature or timing of Israel’s response, analysts say his rhetoric signals calculated restraint rather than immediate retaliation. “The Prime Minister’s language is carefully chosen,” a diplomatic source told VIN News. “By saying ‘time and place of our choosing,’ he is signaling that Israel will avoid being dragged into a broader conflict on Iran’s terms.”

Still, Israel’s military command has raised alert levels, particularly in the country’s south and central regions, and IDF forces have increased aerial surveillance across the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where the Houthis have launched previous attacks.

The incident comes at a moment of heightened volatility in the region. In Gaza, tensions remain high amid intermittent flare-ups with Hamas, while along the northern border with Lebanon, Israeli forces remain locked in a low-intensity conflict with Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Iran has remained defiant, rejecting claims of its involvement while continuing to publicly support what it terms “resistance movements” against Israel and the United States. Iranian media outlets have praised the Houthis for their “courageous stand against Zionist aggression,” a sentiment that Israeli officials say only reinforces Tehran’s culpability.

As Netanyahu prepares to navigate the next phase of Israel’s response, the VIN News report noted that the Prime Minister’s broader objective appears to be restoring deterrence—not only against the Houthis, but against Iran and its entire proxy architecture.

“Israel will not tolerate direct or indirect attacks on its sovereignty,” Netanyahu’s statement concluded. “The era of strategic ambiguity is over. We hold Iran accountable and we will act accordingly.”

With Netanyahu reaffirming Israel’s red lines and laying the groundwork for potential retaliation, observers are bracing for a possible new chapter in Israel’s long-standing shadow war with Iran—one that could increasingly play out not only in the Levant, but across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.