Edited by: Fern Sidman
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said his government would allocate $110 million in resources to bring some of the thousands of Ethiopian Jews stranded in that country for years to Israel.
AP reported that the announcement came Friday after a phone call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Netanyahu’s office said the decision comes “out of his commitment to the continued aliyah of Jews to Israel,” as was reported by AP.
The Israel government press office said that Prime Minister Ahmed indicated that from his point-of-view, there was no impediment and that this symbolizes the special bond between the peoples.
Ahmed congratulated Netanyahu on the historic peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and said that Prime Minister Netanyahu had led a historic move, the magnitude and full positive ramifications of which will only be understood by future generations, as was reported by the Israeli government press office.
JNS reported that last October, Netanyahu phoned Ahmed to congratulate him on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Netanyahu also said that he had been “impressed” by Ahmed’s visit to Israel the previous month.
During that visit, which took place in early September 2019, Netanyahu hailed his Ethiopian counterpart as “one of the most important and influential leaders in Africa.”
Some 13,000 Ethiopian Jews are in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in Gondar, most of them waiting to be taken to Israel, which they call home. Most live in dire conditions and have threatened to stage a hunger strike if they’re not allowed to travel to their “homeland.” Many say they have family members who have settled in Israel, as was indicated in the AP report.
“Some 250 people have left for Israel within the past year until COVID-19 came. Now the travel has stopped, but Israeli officials are conducting interviews online,” Nigusie Alemu Eyasu, program director for the Ethiopian Jews Community, told The Associated Press.
AP reported that activists say Israel’s government in 2015 pledged to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In 1991 while Ethiopia was in the midst of civil war, Israel carried out the dramatic Operation Solomon, airlifting out some 14,500 Ethiopian Jews in less than two days, as was reported by AP.
According to a report on the World Israel News web site, the move will help put into action repeated promises by the government to bring the members of the Jewish community in Ethiopia to Israel to reunite them with family members who moved to Israel over the past several decades.
WIN reported that earlier this year a report produced by Israeli political leaders and Ethiopian religious heads outlined steps to resolve the problem that has been festering in the Ethiopian community for years as families tried in vain to get permission to bring relatives to Israel.
“To date, nobody knows for sure how many are waiting in the communities, and the number ranges from 7,000 to 14,000 people,” the report said, accusing state institutions of avoiding the issue, as was reported by WIN.
“Six months ago, I promised to bring the remainder of the Ethiopian Jewish community to Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Next Monday, I will submit for cabinet approval a decision to bring 2,000 of our people of Ethiopian origin, on the way toward bringing all of the rest.”
Deputy Minister of Internal Security and Commissioner for the Integration of Ethiopians, Gadi Yevarkan, himself an Ethiopian, said bringing the Falash Mura to Israel was the fulfillment of a pledge he and the prime minister made to the Ethiopian community that has been the target of racist attacks over the years, according to the WIN report.
“I got into politics to correct injustices done to the Ethiopian public for decades. One of the injustices is the issue of aliyah,” Yevarkan tweeted. “It is a triumphant answer to the racism that raises its head.”
“The best answer is the continued aliyah of Ethiopian Jews and not condescension toward them,” Yevarkan said, according to the WIN report.
World Israel News reported that over the years, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel under trying circumstances and several thousand died in the attempt. However, the Falash Mura were left behind and some have been living in poverty and deprivation for more than 20 years.
The term “Falash Mura” refers to Ethiopians who claim to have been members of Beta Israel, the long-established Jewish community of Ethiopia, but whose ancestors were converted to Christianity either forcibly or voluntarily by missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. It applies as well to members of Beta Israel who stopped practicing Judaism.
A BBC report indicated that the issue of whether they should be allowed to come to Israel at all is a divisive one, even among Ethiopian Jews in Israel. While some Ethiopian Jews in Israel support their right to settle there, others object, seeing them as non-Jewish Ethiopians.
According to the BBC report, the Ethiopian Jews’ integration in Israel has been challenging, with the community suffering disproportionately high levels of unemployment and poverty as well as discrimination, although their situation has shown signs of improvement in recent years.
Israel Hayom reported that Israel is currently home to over 145,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent, the majority of whom immigrated to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s.
On Monday, The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) issued a press release stating that they applaud “the decision by the Government of Israel to approve the Aliyah (immigration) of 2,000 members of the Ethiopian community who are expected to arrive in Israel by early 2021. These Olim (immigrants) are among the thousands in Ethiopia waiting, some for over a decade, to be reunited with their family in Israel. The Jewish Agency is immediately commencing implementation of the groundwork needed to facilitate the Aliyah of these 2,000 new immigrants, including preparing the Olim for their new lives in Israel.”
“Helping Ethiopians and Jews worldwide come home to Israel is one of clearest demonstrations of our love and commitment to the State of Israel, which is central to our core mission,” said Mark Wilf, Chair of JFNA’s Board of Trustees. “And it’s all made possible because of our historic partnership with The Jewish Agency.”
The Jewish Agency works in full cooperation with the Government of Israel, primarily with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, on Ethiopian Aliyah. The organization has been authorized by the Government of Israel to operate all Aliyah preparation in Ethiopia, as well as oversee the arrival and integration of these new immigrants into Israeli society. All Aliyah arrival and integration is carried out in compliance with the Ministry of Health COVID-19 guidelines. Once the Olim reach Israel, The Jewish Agency provides for any necessary post-landing quarantine arrangements and will then move the new immigrants to absorption centers where they will be integrated into life in Israel. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting limitation on mobility, The Jewish Agency has brought over 300 Olim from Ethiopia to Israel.
“This government decision will enable the dreams of families that have been separated for over a decade to come true – to finally be reunited, in Israel,” said Isaac Herzog, Chairman of The Jewish Agency. “It is our moral duty to answer the prayers and pleas of those waiting in Ethiopia to come to Israel.”
Due to COVID restrictions, the cost of flights from Ethiopia is high. There are also extensive preparations for Aliyah needed on the ground in Ethiopia, including increased staffing, education courses and healthcare. Support for this effort is provided in part by Jewish Federations through their collective overseas dollars to The Jewish Agency. Additional funds needed to cover the approximately $4M cost of Aliyah preparations and flights for these 2,000 new Olim will be raised collaboratively. This will be done through a joint global effort of The Jewish Agency, the Jewish Federations of North America, Keren HaYesod and private donors from the Jewish world and among friends of Israel.
JFNA and The Jewish Agency are awaiting final approval from the Government of Israel to bring all those waiting in Ethiopia to Israel. (AP, WIN, BBC)
