The State Prosecutor told the Petach Tikvah Family Court on Tuesday, 7 Shevat, it does not object to the opening of graves of 17 families from Yemin to permit DNA testing from the remains and other families in the hope of establishing without a doubt who is buried in the kevarim.

The decision was made while paying attention to the public importance of investigating the truth regarding the deaths and burial of minors from Yemen, the East and the Balkans, whose deaths were reported to their families in the years following the establishment of the state.

It should be noted that the move was approved by the Committee for the Dignity of the Dead on behalf of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, subject to the fulfillment of conditions that allow halachically to open the graves of Yemenite children and carry out genetic tests.

Under the circumstances, the State Attorney’s Office agreed to issue an order to open the graves and take DNA samples for genetic testing of family ties.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)