The US Department of State issued a statement Nov. 10, calling for the immediate and unconditioned release of Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, imprisoned for the last four years by the Houthi militia in Yemen. "Marhabi is one member of an ever-shrinking community of Yemeni Jews, who have been an important part of Yemen’s diverse social fabric for thousands of years. We call on the Houthis to respect religious freedom, stop oppressing Yemen’s Jewish population, and immediately release Levi Salem Musa Marhabi," the statement read.

Nine days later, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel for a three-day farewell tour. Was the issue of Marhabi evoked in his meetings with Israeli authorities? Reports did not mention that. Still, American authorities have been preoccupied with the case of Marhabi for a while now. Last August, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr implored the Houthis to free Marhabi, warning that "the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have a record of persecuting religious minorities."

Publications have linked Marhabi’s arrest to the 2016 clandestine immigration to Israel of a Jewish Yemenite family. The family brought with it an ancient, deerskin Torah scroll, claimed to be 800 years old. Shortly after their arrival to Israel, they were received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, presenting to him the rare Jewish artifact. Marhabi was reportedly detained in his country either for helping the family to immigrate or over transporting the artifact considered by Yemeni authorities to be a national treasure.

Israeli authorities have been careful over the past five to six years to refrain from addressing the civil war in Yemen, which is considered an enemy state. Still, lack of public statements does not mean that Israel is not concerned over the Houthi-Iranian axis, which could bring Tehran closer to Israel geographically, including an opening to the Red Sea.