Jewish state to reconsider Ethiopian immigration quotas
Minister of Immigration and Absorption Ofir Sofer on Wednesday appointed Brig.-Gen. (res) Harel Kanfo to review the Jewish state’s policies regarding further immigration from Ethiopia to Israel.
The move comes at a time when Ethiopian Jews in Israel have argued that the government should increase immigration from Ethiopia amid fighting between rival factions in the northern provinces of Ethiopia, including the city of Gondar in Amhara.
Earlier this month, Israel rescued 174 Israelis and Ethiopians eligible to immigrate from Gondar under the Law of Return.
“The Jews of Gondar are under fire. Help save them before it’s too late. What applies to Ukraine applies to Gondar and Addis Ababa,” read a statement on Sunday from a group of activists known as the Office of the Struggle to Bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
The move to reexamine Israel’s policies on the immigration issue came just one day after Sofer reportedly told the activist group that Israel was not planning a rescue mission Gondar for Ethiopians who say they have Jewish roots.
“Today proves that we are not brethren,” the activist said in a statement following the meeting. “Those who airlifted 200 Israelis out of Ethiopia while leaving thousands in Gondar, at the center of the inferno of war, are directly responsible for their fates.”
Thousands of Ethiopians, known as the Falash Mura, say that they have Jewish roots but are not eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. The group represents descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity in the 19th century.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Israel airlifted thousands of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, out of Ethiopia. Since 1992, Ethiopian Jews in Israel have sought to persuade changing Israeli governments to bring the Falash Mura to Israel.
Sofer’s office announced that every claim of eligibility to immigrate would be examined by the government, adding that the subject is “being examined seriously and will be treated in an orderly fashion.”
“Any further claim of eligibility to make aliyah to Israel under the Law of Return will be thoroughly checked and handled,” the statement said.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
