The Houthi rebels in Yemen have issued an ultimatum to Yemen's remaining Jews: Convert or leave. This was announced by MK Ayoub Kara, an Israeli Druse who is a member of the Likud party, and a deputy minister for regional cooperation. Kara met on Sunday with one of Yemen's remaining Jews who managed to escape.
Deputy Minister Kara told Yated Ne'eman that since he speaks Arabic, he has developed ties to the Jewish communities of several Arab countries, and has helped them in many ways that he cannot discuss at this time. Recently he has received distress calls from Yemen, and he arranged for several Jews who wished to leave there to come to Israel via Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They showed him the official announcement which was published as an official declaration of the Houthi government.
The Houthis are a Shia movement in northern Yemen that was founded around 20 years ago. They take their name from their founder, who was killed in 2004. In the past year or so they have taken political control of large parts of Yemen. Houthis and their fellow Shia are said to make up about 45% of the Yemenite population. Most of the rest are Sunnis, like the Saudis. Saudi Arabia has supported the Sunnie including air strikes. The Islamic State has attacked both factions.
By most estimates, the current Jewish population of Yemen is about 100. About 50 live in Raada, and several live in Sana, the capital.
