One of Yemen’s last remaining Jews, Badra Youssef, has made aliyah, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Youssef reportedly left Yemen in June, a year after her husband Yahya’s death, according to Yemeni independent journalist Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki.
“Thank God for your safe arrival, Aunt Badra,” Moshki wrote, writing that she and her husband were some of the “wonderful patriotic Jews of Yemen.”
According to Moshki, the couple lived in Yemen “through bitter and bitterness,” and rejected all “temptations” of travel during their marriage.
Yemen’s Jewish history
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the Jewish community in Yemen dates back to ancient times, with a presence that flourished particularly during the medieval period.
Jews in Yemen have faced various challenges, including periods of forced conversion and persecution, such as during the rule of 'Abd-al-Nabī ibn Mahdi in the late 1160s and the enforcement of the Orphan's Decree in the 18th century.
According to various reports, there are currently four remaining Jews living in Yemen, most notably Levi Salem Musa Marhabi, who was imprisoned by the Houthis in 2016 for allegedly attempting to smuggle a Torah scroll out of the country.