Murdered Yemeni Jew laid to rest in Israel

Plane carrying remains of Aharon Zindani lands at Ben-Gurion Airport along with family members.

By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER
Family of murdered Yemeni Jew Aharon Zindani 370 (photo credit: Moshe Shai)
Family of murdered Yemeni Jew Aharon Zindani 370
(photo credit: Moshe Shai)
The body of a Jewish man murdered in Yemen three weeks ago was laid to rest in Israel on Thursday.
A plane carrying the remains of the victim, Aharon Zindani, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday evening, the Jewish Agency announced. It said his family members were also on the flight, which was organized by the Jewish group with assistance from the Foreign and Defense ministries, and that they plan to stay in Israel.
Zindani was stabbed to death when he went shopping at a market in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. His son, who was reportedly with him at the time of the incident, was quoted as saying he knew the assailant and that the murderer believed Zindani “ruined and bewitched him.” The Jewish Agency said his murder appeared to be an anti-Semitic attack.
There are some 130 Jews living in Yemen, an impoverished nation on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. In recent decades the country has been a breeding ground for radical Islamist groups, which pose a threat to the local Jewish population.
About 50 Yemeni Jews live in Sanaa, where they are protected by authorities, and the rest live in Amran province. They are the remnants of a once much larger community that left for ideological reasons, because of persecution or better opportunities elsewhere. Both Israel and anti-Zionist haredi groups have aided Jews in leaving Yemen, but the 130 or so who remain there have so far resisted.