Allegations of baby kidnappings early in Israel’s history

Insight

They are claims which have haunted some in Israel for decades.

The early establishment accused of kidnapping children born to Jewish-Arab immigrants to the state, then sending them abroad.

Several government investigations over the years have come to a different conclusion that those children actually died at birth.

Now, a new twist.

CCTV America’s Roee Ruttenberg reports.

Shoshana Dugma came to Israel in 1950, as a refugee from Yemen. In the newborn country, she had a newborn baby girl.

Dugma said her daughter was kept in a separate part of the refugee camp. Everything was fine, until her daughter disappeared. Dugma is one of more than a thousand women who have said their baby went missing.

They said hospitals gave away babies born to Jewish immigrants from Arab countries to Western families.

The last major commission to look into the matter in 1995 rejected those claims saying many of the babies died.

Documents used in the investigation were ordered sealed. Several Israeli lawmakers now want them opened, and a call for a new investigation.

“This subject is always on the families’ daily agendas. The children that were abducted, not objects. Today, what has changed is that it is legitimate for people to come forward and tell their story. Many people didn’t appear before earlier investigation committees because they were afraid to tell their personal stories,” Nurit Koren, Likud lawmaker said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees and saying “the time has come to find out what happened and do justice.”