---
category: Other
location: Baghdad, Iraq
summary: In July 1966, Khatoun took Ari and his sisters, Claris, Evon, and Stella,
  to Israel, where Stella and Ari were enrolled at the American International School
  in Kfar Smaryahu.
tags:
- Person
---

[Khatoun](/people/khatoun/) is the mother of [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/). She was an affluent [Iraqi](/places/iraq/) Jew who married [Gourdji](/people/gourdji/) in [Baghdad](/places/baghdad/) in 1945 and settled in [Tehran](/places/tehran/), [Iran](/places/iran/). In late 1950 and early 1951, she visited [Israel](/places/israel/) with her husband to explore the possibility of moving there.[^1]

In July 1966, [Khatoun](/people/khatoun/) took [Ari](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) and his sisters, Claris, Evon, and Stella, to [Israel](/places/israel/), where Stella and [Ari](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) were enrolled at the American International School in Kfar Smaryahu. Five years later, [Khatoun](/people/khatoun/) and her husband moved from [Tehran](/places/tehran/) to [Israel](/places/israel/).[^1]

During [Ari's](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) imprisonment, [Khatoun](/people/khatoun/) was the only family member who did not abandon him, despite being hassled and threatened by the [Israeli](/places/israel/) government.[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.