비밀작전으로 예멘의 유대인들이 무사히 이스라엘에 도착하였습니다. 그들과 함께 그들의 두루마리 성경도 함께 오게 되었습니다.
I can now reveal that The Jewish Agency for Israel has secretly rescued nineteen Jews from Yemen and brought them to Israel in recent days, bringing the historic Aliyah of Yemenite Jewry to a close.
Among the new arrivals is the rabbi of Raydah, a market town that once had a large and thriving Jewish community, who brought a Torah scroll believed to be more than 500 years old. Another member of the group is the son of Aharon Zindani, who was murdered in Sana’a in 2012 and whose body was brought to rest in Israel with Jewish Agency assistance. Most of his family made Aliyah at that time.
The Jewish Agency has brought some 200 Yemeni Jews to Israel in several covert operations in recent years, as anti-Semitic attacks have increased and the Yemeni civil war has thrown the country into turmoil. Several Jews have been murdered since 2008, and there has been at least one instance of forced conversion to Islam.
More than 51,000 Yemeni Jews have immigrated to Israel since the country’s establishment. Today only about 50 Jews remain in Yemen, most in a closed compound adjacent to the U.S. embassy in Sana’a. They have opted to remain in the country without communal infrastructure. Should any of them choose to immigrate in the future, The Jewish Agency will, of course, assist them, as well.
Jews have lived in Yemen for more than 2,000 years. This is an historic moment for Israel and for Aliyah, and it is a tremendous privilege to be a part of it.
