Secret operation brings 19 of Yemen's last Jews to Israel

Some of Yemen's last remaining Jews have arrived in Israel after a clandestine operation retrieved them from the war-torn country, an Israeli nonprofit group said Monday, accoring to ABC News.

Over the last few days, 19 Yemeni Jews landed in Israel — among them a rabbi carrying a centuries old Torah scroll —according to the Jewish Agency.

The rabbi, Saliman Dahari, said the Torah scroll he brought is 800 years old, handed down over the generations.

"This is a highly significant moment in the history of Israel," said Natan Sharansky, the chairman of the Jewish Agency. "Yemenite Jewry's unique, 2,000-year-old contribution to the Jewish people will continue in the State of Israel."

The Jewish Agency would not disclose details of the secret mission.

Israeli Channel 2 TV said the U.S. State Department was involved, a report the Jewish Agency declined to comment on.

Some 50,000 Jews have arrived to Israel from Yemen since 1949 and have grown to become an integral part of Israeli society.

Source: MENA