The Yemenites part 8

All in all, some 4,500 Yemenite children "died" in hospitals from the late 1940s until the mid 1950s. Bodies were never returned to families. This also happened to other Mizrahi (Eastern) Jews,. as well as those from the Balkans, albeit on a smaller scale. Rumors abounded that the children had been given for adoption, in a Machiavellian social engineering  plot to insure smaller families of Yemenites. Denials from the government  were strong and unambiguous. In the late 1980s, some Yemenites formed a political party around this issue, that did not succeed in making it into the Knesset. Aging parents were desperate to learn of their children's' fate, before they went to their own graves. People whispered, but no one knew for sure. I had several Yemenite friends who had missing siblings. In 1994, a relatively unknown figure, self styled Rabbi Uzi Meshulam, went public with the claim that he had in his possession proof that the children had been given for adoption to wealthy Ashkenazi families. Meshulam alienated the vast majority of Israelis, both religious and secular, with his claim that the secularists, especially those in government, were not actually Jews at all, but were souls of the Mixed Multitude; non Jews who joined the Israelites at the Exodus (Exodus 12:38). Such divisiveness was offensive to nearly all Israelis. Meshulam demanded an impartial commission of inquiry. I, personally, saw a photocopy of a letter to Meshulam from a high ranking government official, telling him that if he dropped the issue, he could have any rabbinic position he wanted; even Chief Rabbi. If he didn't, he would become an "ex". Police came to arrest him at his home. He barricaded himself, together with a group of heavily armed followers. A Waco style confrontation occurred, with a standoff of over as month. Finally, the police stormed his compound, killing one follower and arresting the rest. Meshulam was given an eight year sentence, but was pardoned after five. He was released from prison paralyzed, with many suspicious illnesses.Many beleive he was poisoned. He lingered between life and death for over a decade, finally succumbing in 2013. A commission of inquiry was set up, that concluded that the vast majority of the children had died from natural causes,  with only fifty six unaccounted for, who may have been given for adoption. Case closed. A few months ago, after the death of Ben Gurion's last remaining close associate, archives were opened. They told a story beyond anyone's wildest imagination. Thousands of babies were given for adoption to wealthy Ashkenazim. Many were sold for adoption overseas, transported by the government's own shipping lines. But many others were used for experimentation in Israeli hospitals. After the experiments were over, they were allowed to die by neglect. The doctors saw them as "laboratory monkeys", not as fellow Jews, or even fellow human beings.Photographs of these victims were in the released  archives. Israel was in shock.  One member of this group told me of her efforts to hide the news reports from her daughter. Uzi Meshulam had been vindicated, at least posthumously. Israel is now in the grip of dealing with its legacy. The Yemenites are dealing with their identity as Israelis.