דף הבית Funding secured for DNA tests
on Yemenite children

פרשת היעלמות ילדי תימן

by Moshe Reinfeld, Ha'aretz Correspondent
© Ha'aretz Thursday, November 27, 1997
This material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
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  1. Stones left unturned
  2. How can there be two answers?
  3. The ABCs of DNA
  4. Funding secured for DNA tests
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Following a petition to Israeli High Court of Justice, the State
of Israel will allocate NIS 400,000 funding DNA tests that were
begun a year ago in an effort to locate missing Yemenite children.


  The Health Ministry will fund the DNA tests that were begun a
year ago in an effort to locate missing Yemenite children.  During
a hearing on Wednesday in the High Court of Justice, the State
Prosecutor's Office announced that the necessary budget had been
found to continue the testing and that the Treasury had agreed to
allocate NIS 400,000 for this purpose.  The court heard a
petition, submitted by the mayor of Rosh Ha'ayin, Yigal Yossef,
and families of the missing children, to require Health Minister
Yehoshua Matza to abide by the promise of his predecessor, Tzachi
Hanegbi, to fund the tests.

  At the time of Hanegbi's decision, bone samples were taken from
10 graves and blood samples were taken from 10 family members in
order to compare them.  Because of technical problems, however,
it was discovered that the Forensics Institute could not conduct
the genetic tests.  The institute's director, Prof. Yehuda Hiss,
suggested sending them to a laboratory in Britain where the cost
for each test was $10,000.

  In the absence of funds to cover the costs of testing, the
director-general of the Health Ministry decided about eight
months ago to halt the entire process.  The parents' attorney,
Rami Tzubari, objected to the ministry's decision and accused
them of ignoring the fact that the bodies had already been
exhumed and the blood samples taken.

  Following the announcement that funding had been found, the
judges decided to delay further discussion of the appeal until
January 1998.  If the testing has begun by that time, the appeal
will be dropped

  (c) copyright 1998 Ha'aretz.  All Rights Reserved

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