ROYG DIGS IN ITS HEELS ON ISSUANCE OF JEWS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000502

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD
FOR PRM LBARTLETT, KGAUGER, SHEINLEIN
FOR DRL JBARGHOUT AND JKERN
FOR SEAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2019
TAGS: PHUM PREF KIRF YM
SUBJECT: ROYG DIGS IN ITS HEELS ON ISSUANCE OF JEWS'
PASSPORTS

REF: SANAA 481

Classified By: CDA Angie Bryan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Despite U.S. pressure, the ROYG continues
to stall on the issuance of passports to a group of Reyda
Jews, citing discomfort over media attention surrounding the
February emigration of a Jewish family to Israel. Families
in Reyda reported incidents of rocks thrown at their homes
and other forms of harassment in recent weeks as 108 Jews
wait for refugee resettlement in the U.S. Post continues to
monitor closely the security and well-being of the Reyda
community. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The CDA raised the issue of the Jews' passports with
Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi at a private lunch on March

23. In a challenging manner, Qirbi told the CDA, "The Jews
will get their passports, but not as a result of pressure
from the American Embassy." He also echoed previous ROYG
comments about embarrassment over the high level of media
coverage regarding the February emigration of a Yemeni Jewish
family to Israel (reftel),saying the stories made it look
like "the Falasha leaving Ethiopia." (Note: The Falasha, a
somewhat pejorative term for Jews of Ethiopian descent,
emigrated to Israel by the tens of thousands during
high-profile operations in the 1980s and 1990s. End Note.)
Qirbi was unable to offer an explanation when the CDA pressed
him on why passports had not been issued to Jews who had
applied as early as January, weeks before the February
emigration to Israel that Qirbi blames for the passport
delay. Other Yemeni lunch guests, including the Minister of
Civil Service and Insurance, a member of the Shura Council,
and a prominent businessman, also urged Qirbi to ensure that
the passports were issued, which is the Jews' right as Yemeni
citizens.


3. (C) In contrast to Qirbi's intransigence, other elements
of the ROYG offered some hope that the ROYG possesses the
political will to resolve the passport issue in the near
future. Sheikh Mohammed Naji al-Shaif, a GPC MP and
prominent tribal leader who has handled the Jewish issue for
the ROYG in the past, told PolOff on March 24 that President
Saleh had "already given orders for everything to be taken
care of" in relation to the Reyda Jews. Al-Shaif said the
passports would be issued upon Minister of Interior Rashad
al-Masri's return from Beirut, implying that the President
had approved such action. (Note: Al-Masri is not scheduled
to return to Sana'a until early April. End Note.)


4. (C) In a meeting with PolOff on March 23, 15 members of
the Reyda community who received offers for refugee
resettlement in the U.S. said that some Jewish families had
been subject to harassment in recent weeks. Yahya Saeed
al-Garadi and his wife said that stones had been thrown at
their house during the night and piles of trash placed
outside of it during the month of March. Another young man
said that his uncle had been subject to harassment in the
souk, but the Reyda police refused to record his complaint.
(Comment: Post will continue to monitor the security
situation in Reyda closely, and urged the community members
to inform Post if the situation worsens. End Comment.)


5. (SBU) The Yemeni media is now reporting on the widespread
coverage of the Reyda Jews in the Israeli media. Major
English-language daily newspapers in Israel, like Haaretz and
the Jerusalem Post, have front-paged coverage of the Reyda
Jews' difficulties in departing from Yemen. While the
Israeli coverage of the issue has focused on the supposed
tug-of-war for the resettlement of the Jewish community
between the American Satmar community and the Israeli
government-funded Jewish Agency, the Yemeni media has
highlighted the involvement of the USG in the case.
Headlines from Yemeni newspapers on the case imply that the
Embassy is directly involved in moving the Reyda Jews en
masse to the United States.
BRYAN