A few weeks ago a group of seventeen Jews who fled from Yemen arrived in Israel, after having been secretly airlifted out of their home country amid what the New York Times described as “political unrest and threats to their safety.” There are now about 90 Jews left in Yemen.

Political stability and public safety in Yemen has declined percipitously in recent weeks. At the beginning of August the U.S. told citizens in Yemen to leave the country immediately. At the same time the Washington Post published new analysis revealing that Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch was seeking to expand its capabilities and its presence in the country.

Yemen’s Jews, however, face additional dangers. Rabbi Yahya Youssuf Salem was recently interviewed by Yemen Today TV. MEMRI provided an excerpt describing the threats faced by local Jewry in further detail, and the video is embedded below. An article in the Yemen Times west further:

Most of the remaining Jews in Yemen live in a guarded compound in Sana’a after having been driven from their homes in Sa’ada by the Houthis in 2007. Hood, a local human rights organization in Yemen, has criticized these tough security measures imposed on the Yemeni Jews. In a letter sent to directors of National Security, Political Security, and Interior Ministry, Hood said that the Yemeni authorities impose a restriction on the Jews that — despite claims that it is for the community’s safety — could be described as “prison.”

[Photo: Al Ectric / YouTube]