The Knesset Absorption Committee held a session this week on the disappearance of 11 Iranian Jews over the past seven years. Committee Chairman Tzvi Hendel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) explained the background to Arutz-7:
\"Some of them disappeared seven years ago, and others have been missing for four years. They were all on their way to Israel; in one case, a whole family that had been allowed to leave was at the airport when suddenly, officials detained the father for what they said was some sort of investigation. He said to his family, \'You go on, I\'ll meet you in a few days\' - and no trace has been heard of him since.
\"In another case, some Iranian Jews tried to cross the border illegally, with the help of Israeli authorities, but some of them were arrested and have not been heard from. Altogether, eleven Iranian Jews have disappeared. The families say that even though several years have passed, Israel is doing little or nothing to find the people… A committee has been formed, and our Knesset Committee will oversee it. The present issue in dispute is whether to work quietly or with public fanfare - there are advantages to both - but I think that there will be no choice: We will give the committee a certain amount of time, a few months at most, and afterwards we will have to turn to world Jewry and civil rights organizations in a widespread public campaign... The work will originate in Israel, but the outcry will have to come from abroad, because as is known, Iran and Israel are not on the best of terms... Iran has formed commercial ties with European countries, and therefore has an interest in not violating human rights.\"
MK Hendel said that he has reason to believe that they are all still alive. He made sure to emphasize that these are a different group of Iranian Jews than the ten who were arrested and imprisoned for \"spying for Israel.\"