On the visit of the Israeli group to Yemen
Yemen-Israel, Politics, 3/30/2000

A group of 12 Israelis of Yemeni descent had visited Sanaa and made tours in the quarters where Jews used to live in the city and they also spoke to several Yemeni Jews who are still living there.

Officials at a hotel in Sanaa where they group stayed said those Israelis are carrying British and American passports and that none of them entered Yemen with Israeli passports. Those Israelis include writers and scholars, and they obtained four-day visas from the Yemeni embassy in Washington and arrived in Sanaa on Monday via Jordan.

Yemen does not permit those who carry Israeli passports to visit it, and this measure is in the course of Yemen's adherence to the Arab boycott policy of Israel.

Diplomats in Sanaa said that Yemeni Jews who did not carry Israeli passports had also visited Yemen earlier.

Officials statements say there are 600 Jews who are still living in Yemen. Most of the Yemeni Jews, estimated at 45,000, emigrated to Israel at the beginning of the 1950s, but Sanaa denied reports which spoke of its role in facilitating the evacuation of those Jews to Israel.

Yemeni officials abstained from confirming reports saying that the visiting Israeli team will meet with high-ranking Yemeni officials.

Meanwhile, al-Quds al-Arabi, a London-based daily, said on Wednesday that the Israeli Jewish delegation currently visiting Yemen is carrying a message from the spiritual leader of the Shas movement, Rabbi Obadya Youssief, to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, urging him to strengthen relations between Israel and Yemen.

Israeli Radio quoted the paper as saying that members of the Israeli delegation will meet during their visit with Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani, but Yemeni official sources refused to deny or confirm such news.

The paper added that the Israeli delegation was seen roving the streets of Sanaa wearing the traditional costumes of Yemeni Jews, under Yemeni security in order to ensure their safety.

The Israeli delegation arrived in Sanaa via the Jordanian capital, Amman.

It includes 16 persons, including five rabbis of Yemeni origin.

Previous Stories:
  Israeli group visits Yemen   (3/29/2000)
  Yemen denies any normalization of relations with Israel   (3/24/2000)
  Yemen denies relations with Israel   (3/9/2000)

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