Final group of Yemenite Jewish immigrants arrives in Israel
- Jewish Agency Chairman Sharansky: "From Operation Magic Carpet in 1949
until the present day, The Jewish Agency has helped bring Yemenite Jewry home
to Israel. Today we bring that historic mission to a close."
The final group of Yemenite Jewish immigrants landed in
Israel last night (Sunday, March 20, 2016) following a complex covert operation
coordinated by the Jewish Agency for Israel, thus bringing the historic
Yemenite aliyah to a close. Some 200 Jews have been secretly rescued from Yemen
by the Jewish Agency in recent years, including several dozen in recent months,
as attacks against the Jewish community have increased and the country has
descended into civil war.
Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel
Natan Sharansky said: "This is a highly significant moment in the history
of Israel and of aliyah. From Operation Magic Carpet in 1949 until the present
day, the Jewish Agency has helped bring Yemenite Jewry home to Israel. Today we
bring that historic mission to a close. This chapter in the history of one of
the world's oldest Jewish communities is coming to an end, but Yemenite Jewry's
unique, 2,000-year-old contribution to the Jewish people will continue in the
State of Israel."
Nineteen individuals arrived in Israel in recent days,
including 14 from the town of Raydah and a family of five from Sanaa. The group
from Raydah included the community's rabbi, who brought a Torah scroll believed
to be between 500 and 600 years old. The father of the husband from Sanaa was
Aharon Zindani, murdered in an antisemitic attack in 2012. The Jewish Agency
arranged for Zindani's remains to be brought to Israel for burial and also
coordinated the immigration of his wife and children at the time.
More than 51,000 Yemenite Jews have immigrated to Israel
since the country's establishment in 1948. The majority of the community -
nearly 50,000 individuals in total - was brought to Israel in Operation Magic
Carpet in 1949 and 1950. Today, hundreds of thousands of Jews of Yemeni origin
live in Israel, and many have had a profound impact on Israeli society,
including singers Ofra Haza, Achinoam Nini (Noa), Gali Atari, and Shoshana
Damari; Olympic medalist Shahar Tzuberi; former Knesset Speaker Yisrael
Yeshayahu; and noted rabbi Amnon Yitzhak.
Attacks against Jews in Yemen have risen sharply since 2008,
when Jewish teacher Moshe Ya'ish Nahari was murdered in Raydah. In 2012, Aharon
Zindani was murdered in Sanaa and a young Jewish woman was abducted, forced to
convert to Islam, and forcibly wed to a Muslim man. As Yemen has descended into
civil war and the humanitarian situation in the country has worsened, the
Jewish community has found itself increasingly imperiled. As a result, The
Jewish Agency has undertaken numerous covert operations to spirit Jews out of
Yemen and bring them to Israel, rescuing some two hundred in recent years.
Some 50 Jews remain in Yemen, including approximately 40 in
Sanaa, where they live in a closed compound adjacent to the U.S. embassy and
enjoy the protection of Yemeni authorities. They have chosen to remain in the
country without Jewish communal or organizational infrastructure. The Jewish
Agency will continue to assist any Jew who wishes to make Israel his or her
home.
(Communicated by the Jewish Agency for Israel)