Taha Al-Motawakel, who serves as a Health Minister on behalf of the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, said in a sermon in Sanaa on Friday, January 21, that the UAE is a “Jewish settlement” and that the Emirati "Bedouins" do not have the brains to have built a "major economic and technological center."
The comments aired on Yemen’s Al-Eman TV and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Al-Motawakel further claimed that the affairs of the UAE are managed by the Jews, who invested their money in the UAE rather than Israel in order to protect it from the conflict between Israel and the Arabs.
In addition, Al-Motawakel said that the US and Israel are behind the attacks against the Houthis in Yemen and that Israel sends pilots and planes to bomb the Yemeni people with illegal munitions.
Al-Motawakel then threatened Israel, saying that the Houthis' drones and missiles can reach Israel like they have reached Saudi Arabia.
The comments came just days after the Houthis attacked three oil tankers near Abu Dhabi.
On Sunday, the Houthis attacked the UAE again, firing a ballistic missile which was intercepted by the local air defense systems.
The attack occurred during the visit of President Isaac Herzog to the UAE.
The Houthis and their allies took over large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2015. A Saudi-led military coalition then intervened in Yemen to try to restore the government.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran denies it is backing the Houthis and has also denied Saudi Arabian accusations that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities.