Israel: Graves of ‘ stolen babies’ to be opened

Jerusalem, Jan. 24: Israel will allow the opening of graves believed to hold remains of children who died in the 1950s, for DNA tests to help determine whether they were stolen from their parents, officials said Wednesday.

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

They allege the babies were stolen and given to Jewish families of Western origin in Israel and even abroad, mainly those who could not have children themselves.

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

Many families have not been convinced and have pushed for the graves supposedly holding the remains to be opened.

Israeli prosecutors have now agreed to a request from 17 families hoping for DNA tests on the remains to determine if there is a genetic link, the justice ministry said.

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