An endless debate is revived in Israel in favor of a distant war, in Ethiopia. “The aliyah now! “Bring back our brothers!” “ Hundreds of Israelis of Ethiopian origin demonstrated on Sunday, November 14, under the Prime Minister’s windows. They demand the transfer to Israel of members of their families waiting to leave this country, which is plunged into a fratricidal war.
Among the protesters, Gebyal Getahun, 42, taps his phone. Friday, the eve of Shabbat, this worker in a drug factory in Bet Shemesh (center) recommended to his three cousins who live in Addis Ababa, to their wives and their children, not to leave their homes, under any circumstances. . They reside in a neighborhood in the Ethiopian capital, where the Jewish Agency has funded the development of schools, synagogues and ritual baths since the 1970s.
The Hebrew State had just recognized the Jewishness of “Beta Israel” (the “house of Israel”), this Ethiopian community that certain traditions trace back to the lost tribe of Dan, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Its nationals could benefit from the Law of Return, which grants citizenship to any Jew wishing to immigrate to Israel. In 1991, the last large-scale secret operation, “Salomon”, allowed the transfer of 14,000 people in two days out of the “camps” of Addis Ababa and Gondar (North).
Today, the war is still far from Addis Ababa. Gebyal Getahun does not fear for the immediate safety of those close to him. But he urges them to stand in their house near the Israeli embassy. It began to evacuate the families of its diplomats on November 7, following the example of Washington. Mr. Getahun himself arrived in Israel in 1998. His uncle joined him with his wife and two children five years later. However two other sons and a daughter, Malkamu, Negatu and Terunesh did not meet the state criteria and remained in Addis Ababa.
Why does Gebyal Getahun care about his unhappy cousins? First because he owes it to his uncle, who died in 2009, without having seen his children again. Then, because he intends to repair what he considers an injustice done to his clan: “My whole family is here. It was only my three cousins who stayed behind. “
Tensions taken up a notch
After the almost total transfer of “Beta Israel”, pressure continues to be exerted on the state to bring their other parents. They come from the same family lines, remained on the outskirts of the community despite their Christianization, often under duress, mainly at the end of the 19th century.e and at the beginning of the XXe century. Today, these more recent immigrants form a large part, if not the majority, of the estimated 150,000 Israelis from Ethiopia.
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