Aliyah from Ethiopia

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The Jewish aliyah from Ethiopia, or the immigration of ethnically and religiously Jewish Ethiopians to Israel, began during the mid-1970s, during which the majority of the Beta Israel community emigrated to Israel.

Eligibility of Beta Israel Ethiopians for Aliyah

In 1973 the Israeli Ministry of Absorption prepared a comprehensive report on the Beta Israel ethnic group (the historical name of the Israelite Ethiopian community), which stated that the Falasha were foreign in all aspects to the Jewish nation. The report concluded that there was no need to take action in order to help the ethnic group make Aliyah to Israel.

Shortly after the publication of the Ministry of Absorption report in 1973, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi chief rabbi, decreed that the community of "Beta Israel" are a descendant tribe of Israel. He also said that giving them a proper Jewish education and the right to immigrate to Israel, in his definition, was a Mitzvah. On the other side, Shlomo Goren, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi, said that the Beta Israel Ethiopians are not the descendants of the Tribe of Dan and he said that they had been assimilated to non-Israelite communities over the years. Ovadia Yosef's Halakha ruling ended with the Law of Return being applied to the community, notwithstanding the Ministry of Absorption report and notwithstanding the position of the Ashkenazi chief rabbinate. In order to bring the Beta Israel community to Israel, an inter-office staff was founded, which included representatives from the Israeli Justice Department, Israeli Ministry of Interior, Israeli Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency for Israel. This action was mainly promoted after the election of Menachem Begin as Prime Minister in 1977.

Beta Israel Exodus (1979–1985)

In the absence of full diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, The Israeli Mossad contacted officials in Sudan, which is adjacent to Ethiopia. Thousands of Beta Israel community from Ethiopia traveled by foot to the border with Sudan, and waited there in temporary camps until they were flown to Israel. Between the years 1977 and 1984, these immigrants were led from those camps to Israel by means of vessels of the Israeli Sea Corps and airplanes. Until Operation Moses, about 8,000 made a dangerous journey to Israel during which about 4,000 Beta Israel perished from disease or hunger or were killed by bandits.

Operations Moses and Joshua

After it became clear that the immigrants who remained in the Sudanese camps were in danger, it was decided to pursue an operation of intense immigration, nicknamed "Operation Moses", during which about 8,000 immigrants were brought to Israel from Ethiopia using Israeli aircraft. Most of the immigrants in Operation Moses originated from the Gondar area.

Entire families including little children undertook long and dangerous treks, which often spanned whole months. As a result of the difficulties of the journey and bad conditions, hundreds and possibly even thousands of Beta Israel Ethiopians died on the way to the Sudanese camps. One of the main Ethiopian activists was Frada Aklom, whom many perceive as an important figure in the Beta Israel community.

The operation ended prematurely, after a press leak in Israel regarding Ethiopian Aliyah via Sudan to Israel. After the media exposure to the operation, the political situation the region changed. The Sudanese government, which had allowed Beta Israel entry into the country on their way to Israel, was dismissed, and relations between Israel and Sudan were soured.

Despite this, more Beta Israel were brought to Israel, including 1,200 in the Operation Sheba and 800 more on Operation Joshua that took place in 1985, with the help of George H. W. Bush, who was then Vice President of the United States.

Operation Solomon

Women in Kiryat Malakhi, 2012.

In the beginning of 1991, the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia was about to collapse due to the rebel forces approaching the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. In the end of May 1991, several days before Addis Ababa was seized by the rebels, Mengistu escaped from Ethiopia and found shelter in Zimbabwe. An agreement was obtained between officials from Mengistu's government and Israel allowing the Ethiopian Beta Israel to emigrate to Israel in exchange for about 35 million US dollars and shelter in the United States for several of the officials of the government.

Due to this agreement, "Operation Solomon" took place, during which about 14,400 Beta Israel were brought to Israel within 34 hours on 24 May 1991, in about 30 airplanes of the Israeli Air Force and the El Al company.

The Falash Mura

There are many descendants of Ethiopian Beta Israel, whose ancestors converted to Christianity and who are now returning to the Mosaic Israelite faith. This group of people is known as the Falash Mura. They are admitted entrance to Israel, although not as Israelites, thus enabling the Israeli government to set quotas to their immigration and make citizenship dependent on Orthodox conversion to modern Judaism. Although nobody knows for certain the exact population of the Falash Mura in Ethiopia, it is approximated to be 20,000-26,000. However, recently some reporters and other travelers in remote regions of Ethiopia have noted that they have found entire villages where people claim they are Beta Israel or are Falash Mura (Beta Israel who have been practicing Christianity). Chief Kes Raphael Hadane has argued for the acceptance of the Falasha Mura as Jews.^[2]

In April 2016, the Israeli Government approved a plan to bring 9,000 Falashmuras to Israel over the course of five years. 1,300 are scheduled to arrive in June 2016.^[3]

Challenges of integration in Israel

The biggest concentrations of the Ethiopians Beta Israel are in the cities: Beersheba, Dimona, Mitzpe Ramon, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Lod, Ramla, Or Yehuda, Jerusalem, Netanya, Kiryat Malakhi.

A report carried out by the Bank of Israel in 2006 gave cause for concern regarding the absorption of the Ethiopian community to Israeli society :

• The incidence of poverty amongst Ethiopian families is estimated at about 51.7% compared with 15.8% in the general Israeli population.
  

  A Beta Israel protest in Israel
• The rate of participation in the labor market is about 65.7% amongst adults compared with about 82.5% in the general Israeli population.
• The rate of unemployment amongst Ethiopians is estimated at about 13.2% compared with 7.4% in the general Israeli population.
• The monthly income per capita is estimated at about 1,994 New Israeli Shekels amongst Ethiopians compared with about 3,947 New Israeli Shekels in the general Israeli population.
• Students awarded the Bagrut Certification is estimated at about 44% of Ethiopians compared with about 57% in the remaining Israeli population. Only about 34% meet the requirements needed for higher education, compared with about 83% of the Israeli population.
• About 21.7% of Ethiopian immigrants are holders of high school and higher education, compared with about 49.2% in the general Israeli population. About 20.4% of Ethiopian immigrants are not holders of a basic education, compared with about 0.9% from the general Israeli population.
• In the 2002-2003 school year, the rate of criminal charges brought against 12- to 20-year-old Ethiopian immigrants was 4.6%, twice as high as the number of criminal charges brought against the equivalent age group from the remainder of Israeli society.

The Bank of Israel report also highlights mistakes made by the government in its attempt to integrate Ethiopian immigrants into mainstream Israeli society, despite the estimated 400,000 NIS spent per immigrant. In addition to government financial investments, money was also invested from private donations, and by local authority welfare systems, and towards Affirmative action schemes to help immigrants undertake mandatory army or national service and for their greater inclusion in higher education. The report recommended that measures be taken to encourage immigrants to disperse around the country, rather than remain concentrated in the small communities in which they were initially placed. In addition, it recommended that greater resources be allocated to schools to improve education for Ethiopian children. Lastly, the report recommended that greater emphasis be placed on providing professional training to Ethiopian immigrants and that affirmative action be considered to aid their inclusion in public service jobs.

In 2009, Tzion Shenkor, the highest-ranking Ethiopian officer in the Israel Defense Forces with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel, became the first battalion commander of Ethiopian descent.^[4][5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israelis of Ethiopian descent.

• Jewish Agency for Israel Aliyah from all over the world since 1948