Government approves immigration of thousands of Ethiopian Jews

Ministers voted on Sunday to allow the immigration of thousands of Ethiopians who have been waiting for years to travel to Israel, many spending the period in transit camps.

The move came amid growing calls from leaders and members of Israel’s Ethiopian community to quickly bring in those still waiting to emigrate as civil war escalates in the country.

However, recent operations that have drawn relatively small groups of Ethiopians have been followed by allegations that some do not have Jewish ancestry or have committed war crimes.

People included in the proposed plan have first-degree relatives in Israel and were eligible to immigrate under a 2015 government decision, under which 9,000 people with first-degree relatives in Israel arrived in camps. in Gondar or Addis Ababa by 2010 would be brought to the Jewish state.

Some 4,000 Ethiopians were taken to Israel following the 2015 ruling, but reports say the number of those waiting to leave has since increased from 5,000 to around 8,000.

They will be brought to Israel “in the near future”, pending instructions from the Ministry of Health, according to the approved plan.

Members of the Ethiopian Jewish community arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on December 3, 2020 (Miriam Alster / Flash90)

The government also called for the appointment of a special monitor for the project who will lead a joint team from the Home and Immigration ministries to prepare recommendations on the rights of those still waiting to immigrate and who have not. first degree family members in Israel.

Immigration Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata said in a statement following the ruling that “today we correct a persistent injustice to those who wait for their immigration to be approved as early as 2015 , but which has not been implemented by previous governments “.

The Israel Jewish Agency, along with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), said in a joint statement that they applaud the decision and that the agency will immediately begin work to facilitate the immigration of newcomers. expected.

“This government decision will end the suffering of many families who will finally be reunited after years of waiting to make aliya,” said acting chairman of the Jewish Agency’s executive, Yaakov Hagoel, using the word Hebrew for immigration to Israel.

The JFNA said it would raise $ 5 million to support the immigration process.

“Today’s announcement is an exciting and important step in reuniting families and strengthening the Jewish people,” Jewish Federations of North America board chairman Mark Wilf said in a statement. .

Tamano-Shata and Home Secretary Ayelet Shaked agreed earlier this month on a plan to bring remaining potential immigrants to Israel, after reports that Tamano-Shata had threatened to resign at cause of the question.

Channel 13 news reported a claim at the time that those to be brought to Israel were in no immediate and tangible danger because of their Jewishness. But there may also be doubt as to whether they are all Jews, after Hebrew media reported that dozens of Ethiopians participating in the covert operation may have distorted their Jewish ancestry and exaggerated the danger to them. posed.

Community members involved in the effort have denied the charges, according to Channel 12 News, which also released a National Security Council assessment saying there was no urgency for the efforts to air Transport.

Among the members of the Ethiopian community who are still waiting to come to Israel, several thousand live in the Tigray region, at the heart of the conflict.

Others, who left their villages years ago, make a living near Jewish community centers in Gondar City and Addis Ababa. Many have waited decades to immigrate.

“We must continue to bring them to Israel quickly,” President Isaac Herzog said earlier this month.

Immigration and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, center-right, meets members of the Ethiopian Jewish community who have relatives in Ethiopia, during a protest demanding that the government bring them to Ethiopia. Israel, in front of the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, November 14, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)

While Ethiopian Jewish immigrants from the Beta Israel community are recognized as fully Jewish, Ethiopian immigrants belonging to the smaller Falash Mura community are required to convert to Orthodoxy after immigrating. The Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago. Some 30,000 of them have immigrated to Israel since 1997, according to the prime minister’s office.

Because the Home Office does not consider the Falash Mura to be Jewish, they cannot immigrate under the Law of Return and therefore must obtain special permission from the government to settle in Israel.

To further complicate the effort, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed claimed in a phone call with Bennett earlier this month that Ethiopians brought to Israel in recent months included officers implicated in war crimes, according to a report.

Channel 13 quoted a security source involved in the case as saying that at least four of the more than 2,000 officers brought to Israel over the past year are believed to have participated in the rebel massacres in the region. Tigray region.

Months of political tension between Ahmed’s government and the Tigray rulers who once dominated the Ethiopian government erupted into war last November.

After some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, Ethiopian soldiers fled Tigray’s capital, Mekele, in June. Faced with the current offensive by Tigray forces approaching Addis Ababa to pressure Ahmed to step down, the prime minister last Tuesday declared a national state of emergency with broad powers of detention.

Tigray forces are also pressuring the Ethiopian government to lift a deadly months-long blockade on their region of around 6 million people, where basic services have been cut and humanitarian and medical aid. is refused.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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