How an Arab country helped Israel rescue Yemen’s last Jews, and settle them in Cairo
In 2021, nearly 100 Yemenite Jews were evacuated from a secure compound in Sana’a amid civil war. But one of them, Salem Levi Marhabi, was forced to stay; he is still held in a Houthi prison
Shalom Yerushalmi is the political analyst for Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew current affairs website
In 2021, an Arab country helped Israel evacuate close to 100 Jews from Yemen and move them to Egypt. The Times of Israel is revealing for the first time details of the operation, within the limits of what is allowed to be published by the censor.
The rescued Jews were the final remnant of a community with a two millennia history. They lived in a secure complex in Sana’a, protected by the authorities from being harmed by the Houthi rebels, who had taken control over large parts of Yemen during the Muslim country’s yearslong civil war.
The Jews moved to Sana’a after their stay in a less secure compound in Raydah, a city to the north of the capital, once home to a large Jewish community. But in Sana’a, the danger was visible every day, and the need to evacuate them from Yemen became critical.
Israel requested emergency assistance on the matter from an Arab country that does not have ties with Jerusalem. Envoys of that country traveled to Sana’a to conduct negotiations on the evacuation of the Jews from the compound.
At the same time, the Arab country negotiated with Egypt to agree to settle the Yemenite Jews in Cairo.
Some of them, who were under the influence of the anti-Zionist Satmar Hassidic sect, did not want to immigrate to Israel — which they regarded as a secular and apostate country.
In addition, as part of the complicated deal between the Arab country, Israel and Sana’a, the Yemenis refused to allow the Jews to come to Israel — particularly those with first-degree relatives in the Jewish state.
And so, close to 100 Jews left Yemen in 2021 for a compound in Cairo — all with foreign funding. The operation was managed by a special envoy, who remains anonymous, on behalf of the unidentified Arab country.
The one who was left behind
Unfortunately, one Jew, Salem Levi Marhabi, was forbidden to leave by the government and remained in Yemen. Marhabi is now believed to be the last Jew living in Yemen, and the special envoy travels to Sana’a every month to check on his well-being.
Marhabi had lived in Israel in the past but returned to Yemen due to difficulties assimilating into the country. Before his return, he was pictured in March 2016 with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two, together with other Yeminite immigrants, were looking at an ancient 800-year-old Torah scroll that had been smuggled into Israel from Yemen — an incident that raised the ire of the Yemeni authorities, not just the Houthis.
Shortly after the picture (below) was taken, Marhabi returned to Yemen and was arrested upon his arrival. In 2018, he was sentenced to three years and six months in jail. Although his term ended some time ago, he was not released from prison. Three months ago, the Makor Rishon daily wrote that Marhabi is held in a Houthi prison and that, according to reports, he experienced torture and has lost all of his teeth.
According to sources in the unnamed Arab country, Jews who live today in the closed compound in Cairo are not a burden on the Egyptian authorities. They are engaged in silversmithing and earn their own living. Their artistic products have become in high demand in the city.
In fact, the Yemenites from Sana’a are probably the only Jews living in Egypt after the community in the country disintegrated over the years. The Egyptian police are the ones keeping an eye on the new community today.
The Prime Minister’s Office and state agencies that deal with Jews in impoverished countries did not respond to this report.
This article was translated from the original on Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel Hebrew-language sister site.
