Among the last remaining Yemeni Jews secretly were rescued and brought to Israel to escape persecution and increased danger in Yemen.
The once thriving Yemeni Jewish community of over 50,000 mostly were rescued just after Israel’s founding, in what became known as Operation Magic Carpet. Watch the film The Forgotten Refugees for the story of the over 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
This last group brought an ancient Torah Scroll, believed to be several hundred years old.
The Jewish Agency on Monday brought a group of some of the last remaining Yemenite Jews to Israel in a covert operation, hailing the end of a decades-long “historic mission” to “rescue” the Jews of the country.
The 17 members of the dwindling community were flown in following a year-long secret operation involving the Jewish Agency for Israel and the US State Department.
The group comprised the final batch of approximately 200 Yemenite Jews brought to Israel by the Jewish Agency in recent years, the organization said.
Two other members of the tiny community arrived in recent days as well.
Fourteen came from the town of Raydah, while one family of five hailed from the capital, Sanaa, the Jewish Agency said in its announcement. “The group from Raydah included the community’s rabbi, who brought a Torah scroll believed to be between 500 and 600 years old,” it said….
American officials helped coordinate the complicated handover after the group was abused en route to Israel, Channel 2 reported.
Approximately 50 Jews now remain in Yemen, with 40 living in Sanaa in a compound adjacent to the American Embassy. Despite the ongoing civil war, they refuse to leave the country.
The new arrivals met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:



Israel has a thriving Yemeni Jewish community. You may remember this musical group from a prior post: