A secret and delicate operation to evacuate a substantial portion of Yemen’s tiny and beleaguered Jewish population has been thrust into public view and put at risk by infighting among rival Jewish organizations. In this story picked up by The Forward, the Israeli newspaper Maariv has disclosed that the organizations involved are now accusing one another of endangering Jewish lives. Some 113 Jews are being processed for emigration to the US (With thanks: grossly informed):
"The Jewish Agency, which has historically rescued Jews threatened by antisemitism and brought them to Israel, is locked in an apparent battle with a coalition of American Jewish organizations over the coalition’s operation to bring Yemeni Jews to the United States. The American coalition includes United Jewish Communities — one of the Jewish Agency’s main funders — and a leading figure in the Brooklyn-based Satmar Hasidic sect.
"The two groups have been working in parallel on evacuating Yemeni Jews: UJC and Satmar with the United States government, assisted by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and a number of other organizations to bring Yemeni Jews here, and the Jewish Agency, which has been working with the Israeli government to bring them to Israel.
"The Yemen government, which is friendly to the United States but faces militant Islamist sentiment domestically, has not opposed the Jews’ departure so long as it is done quietly.
"Representatives of each side have insisted that any revelation of their activities would endanger the lives of the Jews living in Yemen and the negotiations to bring them out of the country. Yet organizational leaks have brought both operations to light.
"UJC sent an e-mail to this newspaper March 17, seeking to avert publication of a news story disclosing the operation. The e-mail quoted Gregg Rickman, a former State Department official in charge of combating antisemitism who, according to a Jewish communal official close to the negotiations, is now employed by the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg. In the e-mail, Rickman stated that if Yemeni Jews suffered harm after a news organization published information on America’s ongoing negotiations with the Yemeni government, the Jews’ “blood will be on their hands,” referring to the news organization.
"Rickman declined to comment for this article.
"The following day, an article appeared on the Website of the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv revealing UJC and Satmar’s plans to bring the Yemeni Jews to the United States. It quoted senior Jewish Agency officials who criticized UJC’s operations for violating the tradition that rescued Jews be brought to Israel, accusations that were repeated to this newspaper."
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