Shoppers may not have noticed yet, but we are facing a serious threat to trade, says ALEX BRUMMER

As a Washington correspondent in the 1980s, I vividly remember receiving a call from a source at the British Embassy asking if I wanted to drop by because they had something urgent to say.

The British government was alarmed by reports that the US, in its battle with Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua, was considering mining the country’s strategically important ports with access to Caribbean and Pacific waters.

Britain, home of the International Maritime Agency, as a major trading nation has an immediate and historic obligation to support the freedom of the high seas.

Despite the excellent relations between President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher, I was told that Britain would view any attempt by the Americans to interfere with that principle very dimly. The dispute over Nicaragua’s ports caused a lot of commotion.

As Israel’s military response to the October 7, 2023 rape, plunder and murder of 1,195 Israeli civilians and the seizure of 250 hostages by Hamas fighters unfolded, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen began shooting at ships in the Red Sea and sent armed drones into Israel.

Hostilities with the Houthis reached new intensity in the past 48 hours as they fired rockets into Tel Aviv, wounding a dozen civilians.

The attacks came after Israel targeted ports and energy infrastructure in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The Houthis have been threatening Western energy supplies for almost a decade by targeting Saudi Arabian oil fields.

In 2022, they temporarily interrupted refining by attacking an oil terminal in Jeddah. The Saudi air force, armed with British-made Tornado fighters and supported by British and American weapons, has fought to suppress the Houthis with a brutal bombing campaign.

Many shoppers in Europe may not have noticed. But the Houthi threat to the Red Sea – in support of Hamas – has had a significant impact on the supply chain this holiday season.

Freight costs have risen, pushing up groceries in pounds, as some ships from Asia have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope. US and British naval vessels have been deployed to keep shipping lanes open.

You would have to listen very carefully to the rhetoric of politicians in London to hear any commitment to preserving the freedom of the seas.

As oil prices have remained subdued during current geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, British and American politicians, diplomats and humanitarian groups have been largely silent on broader strategic issues.

The references in the communiqués of the G7 and of the International Monetary Fund and the central banks are decidedly neutral and refer eerily to geopolitical tensions without explicitly defining them.

Israel’s merciless pursuit of Hamas in Gaza has claimed 45,000 lives, according to Hamas/Palestinian data.

It has drawn condemnation from all corners of the world and led to Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, being indicted for possible humanitarian crimes. The loss of civilian life, including that of Palestinian children, is a tremendous tragedy.

The consequences for Israel’s ‘startup’ nation have been serious. The boycott organization BDS has scored a number of important victories and promoted a new hashtag on social media ‘#ShutDownNation’. It claims these victories include the cancellation of a $25 billion investment by chipmaker Intel.

Israel’s open pledge to eliminate the Houthi threat and decapitate the rebel leadership is a reminder of how the much-disparaged Netanyahu government, aided by American war materials, has done the West’s job through the ‘arc of resistance’ of Iran in the Middle East. .

The suppression of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and the fall of the terrible Assad dynasty, is a devastating blow to the supporting powers of Iran and Russia. What happens next in Damascus is a known unknown.

Whether Israel can repeat its military success in Yemen, given that Saudi aggression has only strengthened the Houthi rebels, is unclear.

But if the country can help restore long-term oil supply security and keep energy prices lower in the long term, economic stability should benefit.

And by maintaining free passage across the high seas, Israel could provide a much-needed boost to a fragmented world trading system.