Israel to demystify 1950s 'Yemenite baby abductions'

Yemenite activists have charged that hundreds of babies declared dead by doctors were actually abducted for adoption by European Jewish couples since a wave of Yemenite Jewish emigration to the newly created state of Israel in around 1950.

They say the babies went missing from camps set up to host Yemenites along with Jews arriving from other Arab countries in the early 1950s.

Doctors at the camps told them their children had died, but refused to hand over the bodies or death certificates.

Activists and family members believe up to several thousand babies were taken in the years after Israel was founded in 1948, mainly from Jewish Yemenite families, but also from immigrants of other Arab or Balkan nations.

Official inquiries have found that most of the missing babies had died, pointing out the poor conditions in reception camps for the immigrants.

Netanyahu said in July he would support opening the country's archives, which would normally be classified until 2031.

But many parents are not convinced.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in July he would support opening the country's archives, which would normally be classified until 2031.

Among the documents already made public is a confidential report by a government inquiry.

It found that most of the children who disappeared were dead and that the fate of dozens more was unknown, but offered no proof that they had been kidnapped.

The opening of the Israel State Archives will mean that families can investigate the circumstances of their children's disappearances.

"There are no more classified documents," the archive said.

The Jewish community in Yemen once numbered around 60,000 people and dates back some 2,000 years, however only 50 or so remain, with most living in a protected compound adjacent to the US embassy in Sanaa.