Israel gives green light to immigration of 3,000 Ethiopians

The Israeli government approved immigration on Sunday, November 28 “Immediate” 3,000 Ethiopians including family members living in Israel feared for their lives in particular because of the violence in this East African country.

The cabinet gave the green light to “Unanimity” to immigration “Immediate” than 3,000 Ethiopians with first-degree relatives in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said in a statement.

This measure will allow “To welcome thousands of people who were waiting in Addis Ababa and Gondar”, a northern town near Tigray, welcomed on Twitter the Minister of Immigration, Pnina Tamano-Shata, herself a native of Ethiopia. “Finally, parents, children, siblings and orphans will be reunited with their families after decades of waiting”, she added.

These Ethiopians welcomed in the name of family reunification are Falashmoras, a community forcibly converted to Christianity and which claims to be descended from Ethiopian Jews.

“Ethiopian Jews in Danger”

The Falashmoras do not benefit from Israeli law of return. This allows any Jew in the diaspora to immigrate to Israel and automatically become a citizen, hence the need for these Ethiopians to go through family reunification requests.

In mid-November, several hundred people, including Minister Tamano-Shata, demonstrated in Jerusalem to ask the government to host “Ethiopian Jews in danger” in their country plagued by civil conflict in Tigray (north).

Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters opposed to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have advanced in recent months in neighboring regions, not ruling out marching on the capital Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian community in Israel numbers over 140,000 people. In recent years, they have organized a series of protests to denounce the racism and discrimination they say they face and to demand that family members who remain in Ethiopia be able to join them.