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