Seventy years after the disappearance of the children of Yemeni immigrants to Israel, the government on Monday was expected to approve the transfer of compensation to the relatives of the victims of the affair. According to Channel 12 News, the proposal to be presented to the government says: "The government of Israel expresses remorse for the events that occurred during the country's first days and recognizes the suffering of the families whose children were part of this painful affair."
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Compensation is expected to be provided for every child that disappeared. According to the arrangement, which was drafted following a lawsuit filed by the families, the relatives of children who died and didn't receive information about the circumstances of death will receive a one-time payment of 150,000 shekels. The families that still don't know anything about the fate of their children will receive 200,000 shekels. Reception of the compensation will be contingent on the families signing a written letter foregoing any future lawsuits seeking money. Altogether, the country has allocated 162 million shekels for the families' compensation.
Hundreds of mostly Yemenite babies and toddlers went missing between 1948 and 1954, the early years of Israel's statehood, often from hospitals or medical clinics. Their parents were told the children had died, but never received any bodies for burial or death certificates. The children were allegedly kidnapped and put up for adoption.
The government unsealed some of the documents in the case in late 2016.
At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "This is an open wound that continues to bleed for those families who were left in the dark, not knowing what happened to their children. Those families seek the truth and want to know what happened. I believe it is time to find out what happened and to right this wrong."
Thus far, some 3,500 files containing over 200,000 documents have been made public.
In recent years, Israel Hayom has released documents indicating the possible organized involvement of state bodies in the children's disappearance.
Yair Davidi, whose brother Zion disappeared when he was 1.5 years old, said of the government's compensation proposal: "We are very surprised at this decision because we have sought truth, not money. We're not here to ask for money. My parents, may they rest in peace, are no longer alive but their will and testament was for us to continue looking for [the children]. This [compensation] doesn't give us anything because it doesn't shed any light on what happened. We want to know what happened with these children. The only thing that has changed is that the state has taken responsibility for this matter. If they would take responsibility and continue to investigate, that would be more serious."
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