One of Yemen’s last Jews emigrates after lifelong refusal to leave

Duda Badra’s departure marks a further dwindling of Yemen’s ancient Jewish community, now believed to number just four people.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News Staff

An elderly woman who is believed to be one of the last remaining Jews in Yemen recently left the country, Hebrew-language media reported on Thursday.

The woman, identified as Duda Badra, was married for many years to Yahya bin Yousef, a prominent figure in the tiny Yemenite Jewish community.

Bin Yousef died of cholera in June 2024, and Badra suffers from a number of illnesses, according to a Facebook post by Yemeni journalist Ali Ibrahim al-Mushki posted on Wednesday.

Al-Mushki did not specify to which country Badra has emigrated, but said that she was encouraged by her family to go abroad for medical treatment.

Bin Yousef and Badra were described by Al-Mushki as “two wonderful Yemenite Jews, who love their country and have lived their lives in Yemen through thick and thin. Although they had no children, they refused all temptations to leave.”

The journalist posted a photo of himself with bin Yousef and Badra, taken during a visit to the couple’s home in the Arhab district, outside of Sanaa.

After Badra’s departure from the country, Yemen is believed to now be home to four Jews – one of whom has been in prison since 2015 for the crime of smuggling a Torah scroll into the country.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, bin Yousef’s funeral was carried out by his Muslim neighbors, as there were no remaining Jews nearby.

Bin Yousef’s body was wrapped in a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) and buried in a grave dug outside of his village, Ynet reported.

At its peak in the early 20th century, Yemen’s Jewish population was believed to have numbered around 60,000 people.

Jews lived in Yemen for approximately 2,000 years, but faced intense discrimination and institutionalized antisemitism.

Yemenite Jews were forbidden from building houses taller than their Muslim neighbors’, and were not allowed to ride horses, as that could make them appear “higher up” than Muslims walking on the street.

Additionally, Yemeni law permitted the state to seize Jewish children whose fathers had died and forcibly convert them to Islam.

During Operation Magic Carpet, which occurred between 1949 and 1950, virtually all of Yemen’s Jewish population was airlifted to Israel.