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Yemeni children: Supreme reversed district decision | Israel today

2019-12-24T10:35:15.822Z


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11 families will now file a joint lawsuit for the disappearance of their children • This was rejected by the District Court's decision, which accepted the state's position, stating that it was various cases

  • Photo: Coco

The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the appeal of Yemeni immigrants who immigrated to Israel in the 1950s and their descendants, for the district court's decision to erase the lawsuit they filed against the State of Israel and the Jewish Agency.

In the lawsuit, the appellants sought compensation for the serious mental damage they suffered from the disappearance of their children and siblings from the children's homes in the immigration camps housed upon their immigration to Israel and the hospitals, between 1950-1949, as part of the "Yemeni, Eastern and Balkan Children" affair.

The State Commission of Inquiry ("Kadmi Committee") determined in 2001 in relation to each of the appellants' children and siblings that they remained "obscure" and that no finding could indicate their fate.

In its decision, the district court accepted the state's position and held that there is no identical factual system for all cases of child disappearances described in the lawsuit, but they are different and separate cases, and thus a joint factual investigation of all individual cases in a single action will render the proceeding without justification.

The question that has been at the heart of the appeal is whether the disappearance of infants, toddlers and children lost as a result of the Yemeni affair constitutes "one act" or "one series of acts" that raises a "common question" - as a regulation 21 of the Civil Procedure Regulations - and as justified to discuss In the context of one lawsuit, together with the claims of all the families of the children who claim to be entitled to relief.

Supreme Court Judge Joseph Elron // Photo: Court Spokeswoman

In his verdict, Judge Elron stated that the events described in the lawsuit reveal one mask of a difficult and painful affair in the history of the State of Israel: the case of the disappearance of children among Yemenite immigrants in the early days of the state, during their immigration to Israel and their absorption there. Without deciding the appellants' claim to the body, the alleged acts and omissions of the state and agency officials; The information allegedly provided to parents of children who disappeared unexpectedly; And most importantly - the complete disappearance of the children without leaving any trace, all seem to raise disturbing suspicions about one pattern of action on the part of the Respondents, which may establish the appellants' right to relief.

Justice Elron also ruled that in order to decide the suit, the court would have to discuss a number of factual and legal issues common to all cases, including: the procedures for transferring the appellant's children to infants and hospitals by the state and the Jewish Agency; Involvement of state officials and the Jewish Agency in creating the conditions that led to the disappearance of children and the disconnect between them and their parents; The admissibility of investigative committee reports as evidence in the legal process; the admissibility of various historical documents as evidence, including inquiries and written complaints sent by parents to the authorities about their child's disappearance; and the central issue of the statute of limitations. The hearsay efficacy therefore supports the unified hearing of the appellants.

Lawyers Eviatar Katzir (right) and Giora Ibn Tzur (left) // Photo: Meir Partosh

Finally, Judge Elron ruled that the split of the claims raises a real fear of closing the court gates to the appellants. Presumably, the costs of managing individual and family claims individually against the respondents are substantial. The appellants have seven parents who are currently in their ninth decade, and there is therefore a considerable fear that if they are indeed required to reopen in separate proceedings - they will refrain from doing so.

For all these reasons, Judge Elron ruled that there is a common aspect that unites the personal stories of all the families whose children disappeared as part of the Yemenite affair. As seven decades have passed, this aspect justifies, factually and legally, a united debate under one roof in this complicated and painful historical affair.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2019-12-24

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