One of the last Jewish women of Yemen immigrates to Israel.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Follow-ups

Arab Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: Hebrew media reported that one of the last Jewish women in Yemen left the country for Israel, in the latest indication of the sharp decline of the Jewish community whose presence in Yemen dates back thousands of years. The Israeli newspaper Ynet said that Badra bin Youssef left Yemen last June, about a year after the death of her husband, Yahya, who was buried by Muslim neighbors in the village. The couple had no children. The report added that only four Jews remain in Yemen, including one who has been kidnapped since late 2015 by the terrorist Houthi militia. According to what journalist Ali Ibrahim Al-Moushki published on his Facebook page, Badra left Yemen last June, a year after the death of her husband, Yahya Youssef, noting that they lived a life full of suffering and difficulties. Al-Moushki wrote: "Praise be to God for your safe arrival, Aunt Badra," directing words of appreciation to the couple who, for decades, refused all the temptations offered to them to leave the country. The emigration of Yemen's Jews to Israel dates back to the 1930s, but it peaked in the 1950s with the famous secret "Operation Magic Carpet," during which about 50,000 Yemeni Jews were airlifted through Aden Airport, in coordination between the British occupation and the Imamate regime in Sana'a. Over the past two decades, the number of Jews in Yemen has declined dramatically, as those who remained were subjected to harassment and pressure by the Houthi militia, including forced displacement from their homes in Saada Governorate, up to the indirect deportation of dozens. According to local and international reports, only four Jews remain in Yemen today, most notably Lawi Salem Musa Marhabi, who was arrested by the Houthis in 2016 on charges of attempting to smuggle a Torah scroll out of the country. The departure of Badra Youssef, who represented a symbol of the last roots of this community in Yemen, reflects the end of a long chapter in Yemen's culturally and religiously diverse history, and leaves an open question about the fate of the remaining Jews of Yemen in light of the current conditions.