Yemenite Children Affair

Disappearance of thousands of children in 1950s Israel The Yemenite Children Affair ( ) refers to the disappearance of between 1,500 and 5,000 babies and toddlers of new immigrants to the newly founded state of Israel from 1948 to 1954. The majority of immigrants arriving in Israel during this period were from Yemen , with considerable numbers coming from Iraq , Morocco , Tunisia and the Balkans . According to low estimates, one in eight children of Yemenite families disappeared. Hundreds of documented statements made over the years by the parents of these infants allege that their children were removed from them. There have been allegations that no death certificates were issued, and that parents did not receive any information from Israeli and Jewish organizations as to what had happened to their infants. However, Yaacov Lozowick , Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives , has documented records showing that while the fate of a small fraction of the "missing" children cannot be traced, in the overwhelming majority of cases the children died in hospital, were buried, and the families notified, although these illnesses, deaths, and family notifications were handled with enormous insensitivity. In Lozowick's opinion, "There was no crime, but there was a sin." Widespread accusations continue that the infants were given or sold to childless Holocaust survivors in a covert systematic operation. Conclusions reached by three separate official commissions set up to investigate the issue unanimously found that the majority of the children were buried having died from diseases. However, the last of these enquiries, the Cohen-Kedmi Commission's report of 2001, as with its two predecessors, relied almost exclusively on documentation provided by the entities under investigation. Where there was conflict between official documentation and witness's oral testimonies, the Commission relied on the documentation, and the Commission failed to investigate the possibility of private interests engaged in illegal adoption. The truth about the whereabouts of the children is still buried, denied and suppressed." DNA paternity testing has been able to confirm that, in some cases, adopted children trying to track down their biological parents were born to Yemenite families who had been informed that their children had died. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , described the issue as ‘an open wound that continues to bleed’ for the many families not knowing what happened to the children who disappeared.

Disappearance of thousands of children in 1950s Israel A young Yemenite girl carrying her brother in the Beit Lid camp The Yemenite Children Affair ( ) refers to the disappearance of mainly Yemenite Jewish babies and toddlers of immigrants to the newly founded state of Israel from 1948 to 1954. The number of affected ranges from 1,000 to 5,000. The majority of immigrants arriving in Israel during this period were from Yemen , with considerable numbers coming from Iraq , Morocco , Tunisia , Libya and the Balkans . According to low estimates, one in eight children of Yemenite families disappeared. Hundreds of documented statements made over the years by the parents of these infants allege that their children were removed from them. There have been allegations that no death certificates were issued, and that parents did not receive any information from Israeli and Jewish organizations as to what had happened to their infants. However, Yaacov Lozowick , Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives , has documented records showing that while the fate of a small fraction of the "missing" children cannot be traced, in the overwhelming majority of cases the children died in hospital, were buried, and the families notified, although these illnesses, deaths, and family notifications were handled with enormous insensitivity. In Lozowick's opinion, "There was no crime, but there was a sin." Widespread accusations continue that the infants were given or sold to childless Holocaust survivors in a covert systematic operation. Conclusions reached by three separate official commissions set up to investigate the issue unanimously found that the majority of the children were buried having died from diseases. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , described the issue as ‘an open wound that continues to bleed’ for the many families not knowing what happened to the children who disappeared. "פרשת ילדי תימן – מרכז המידע" (in Hebrew).

Disappearance of thousands of children in 1950s Israel A young Yemenite girl carrying her brother in the Beit Lid camp in 1950 The Yemenite Children Affair ( Hebrew : פרשת ילדי תימן , romanized : Parshat Yaldei Teiman ) refers to the kidnapping of mainly Yemenite Jewish babies and toddlers of immigrants in the newly founded state of Israel from 1948 to 1954. The number of children affected ranges from 1,000 to 5,000. The majority of immigrants arriving in Israel during this period were from Yemen , with considerable numbers coming from Iraq , Morocco , Tunisia , Egypt , Libya and the Balkans . According to low estimates, one in eight children of Yemenite families disappeared. Hundreds of documented statements made over the years by the parents of these infants allege that their children were removed from them. There have been allegations that no death certificates were issued, and that parents did not receive any information from Israeli and Jewish organizations as to what had happened to their infants. However, Yaacov Lozowick , Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives , has documented records showing that while the fate of a small fraction of the "missing" children cannot be traced, in the overwhelming majority of cases the children died in hospital, were buried, and the families notified, although these illnesses, deaths, and family notifications were handled with enormous insensitivity. In Lozowick's opinion, "There was no crime, but there was a sin." Widespread speculation persists that the infants were given or sold to childless Holocaust survivors in a covert systematic operation. Conclusions reached by three separate official commissions set up to investigate the issue unanimously found that the majority of the children were buried, having died from diseases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the issue as "an open wound that continues to bleed" for the many families not knowing what happened to the children who disappeared. "פרשת ילדי תימן – מרכז המידע" (in Hebrew).