Former Houthi leader to arrive in Israel to help Yemen-born Israelis visit their homeland

"I will visit our Yemenite Jewish brothers in Palestine with a group of Yemenite jurists in order to discuss the problem manifested in their inability to visit Yemen," Ali Bakhiti said.

By MAAYAN GROISMAN
Final group of Yemenite Jewish immigrants arrives in Israel (photo credit: ARIELLE DI-PORTO FOR THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL)
Final group of Yemenite Jewish immigrants arrives in Israel
(photo credit: ARIELLE DI-PORTO FOR THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL)
A former member of the Yemenite Houthi militia, affiliated with Iran, announced he would soon visit Israel, in order to discuss with Yemen-born Israelis the ways to solve the problem of their inability to visit their homeland.
The former Houthi leader, Ali Bakhiti, announced his plan to visit Israel in a post he wrote on his Facebook page.
"I will visit our Yemenite Jewish brothers in Palestine with a group of Yemenite jurists in order to discuss the problem manifested in their inability to visit Yemen, the homeland of their parents and grandparents," Bakhiti said.
"Even though many Yemenite Jews hold to the Yemenite tradition and culture more than Yemenites who live in Yemen, striving to spread their traditional customs everywhere and conducting ceremonies to memorize it, they cannot enter Yemen since they don’t have Yemenite passports and they are not allowed to enter with Israeli passports," Bakhiti added.
According to the former Houthi politician, "We have to solve this problem by finding a solution that will enable them to visit their original homeland and at the same time will not demand that we recognize Israel or accept official documents issued by it."
Bakhiti concluded his post by calling on his former colleagues in the Houthi leadership to discuss the issue of the Yemenite Jews in the direct talks between them and the Yemenite government, which have been taking place in Kuwait.
Forced to leave Yemen after he called on the Houthi militia to hold negotiations with the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islah Party to end the conflict in Yemen, Bakhiti currently resides in Lebanon.