The long saga surrounding the disappearance of over a thousand immigrant children from Yemenite Jewish families took an important turn this week. After almost seven decades, the government finally recognized the suffering of their families and decided Feb. 22 to compensate them each for their loss.
The plan approved by the government sets aside a sum of 162 million shekels ($50 million), which would be distributed to families based on the following criteria: 150,000 shekels ($46,000) is to be given to each family who received no information about the death of their child in real time, including the circumstances of the child’s death or an as yet unidentified place of burial (also including the families of children whose burial places were only identified significantly later than the death of the child). In the event that the committee responsible for the investigation concludes that the fate of the missing child is still unknown, the family is to receive 200,000 shekels ($61,000).