It is said that the foundations of the Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia include a stone carried from Solomon’s Temple after its destruction in 586 BCE. Regardless of this legend’s veracity, Rachel Gilmore notes, the congregation has been active for centuries—even though the current iteration of the building was constructed in the 1800s. Since 1948, however, the number of Jews living in Tunisia has dwindled from 105,000 to roughly 1,500. Gilmore sketches the history of the country’s Jewish community and the reasons why those who stay seek a renewal.

During the Second World War, the Nazis occupied Tunisia for six months, rounding up and deporting thousands of Jewish men. Israel was created not long after that, sparking rampant “anti-Zionist” backlash in the Arab world, [which again] boiled over in 1967 with the Six-Day War.

Tunisia felt its impact. There was an explosion of riots against the Jewish community in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis. The city’s synagogue was set on fire and . . . thousands of Jews fled the country, fearing for their lives.

By the turn of the century, however, a growing tradition would see the Jewish population in Tunisia temporarily swell for one week every spring: the annual pilgrimage to Djerba. In its heyday, roughly 10,000 Jews would descend on the synagogue for the weekend—though the number of permanent Jewish residents in Tunisia continued to fall. In the hopes of coaxing that number back up, the Tunisian government provides the event with massive amounts of security, including legions of armored vehicles, roadblocks littering the pathway to the synagogue, and helicopters loudly flying overhead.

For more than a year, the Iran-backed Houthis have been launching drones and missiles at ships traversing the Red Sea, as well as at Israeli territory, in support of Hamas. This development has drastically curtailed shipping through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, driving up trade prices. This week, the Trump administration began an extensive bombing campaign against the Houthis in an effort to reopen that crucial waterway. Burcu Ozcelik highlights another benefit of this action:

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. By targeting the Houthis, the United States is not only safeguarding vital shipping lanes but also exerting pressure on the Iran-China energy nexus, a key component of Beijing’s strategic posture in the region.

China was the primary destination for up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, underscoring the deepening economic ties between Beijing and Tehran despite U.S. sanctions. By helping fill Iranian coffers, China aids Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in financing proxies like the Houthis. Since October of last year, notable U.S. Treasury announcements have revealed covert links between China and the Houthis.

Striking the Houthis could trigger broader repercussions—not least by disrupting the flow of Iranian oil to China. While difficult to confirm, it is conceivable and has been reported, that the Houthis may have received financial or other forms of compensation from China (such as Chinese-made military components) in exchange for allowing freedom of passage for China-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea.