Ethiopian youth call on PM to bring them to Israel
Nine youth leaders of the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia have written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on him to swiftly honor his election promise to bring the remainder of the community of descendants of Jews to Israel.
In the run-up to the election, Netanyahu met with the leaders of the Ethiopian community in Israel and promised he would bring the remainder of the Flash Mura community still in the cities of Addis Ababa and Gondar to Israel.
He also stated there was no budgetary problem in bringing the members of the community to Israel.
The promise was made against the background of the elections and appeared to be an attempt to garner votes from the Ethiopian community.
This week, youth leaders from the communities in Addis Ababa and Gondar, who teach Jewish studies and Israeli culture in the compounds where the Falash Mura reside, sought to remind Netanyahu of his promise.
“Every person in our communities yearns to see Israel and Jerusalem and pray at the Western Wall, to [be drafted into] the army to protect our country and observe God’s commandments,” they wrote. “Even when groups of Ethiopian Jews are permitted to immigrate, mothers and fathers are separated from their children because according to government policies that make no sense, they must choose between going to the place of their dreams or to stay behind with their family that was not granted the same permission.”
During the various large-scale aliyah operations, numerous families were split up due to criteria that gave some members of the family the right to immigrate while denying it to others.
Members of the Falash Mura community are not granted citizenship under the Law of Return since their ancestors converted to Christianity, under some duress, and are instead given permission to enter the country under family-reunification laws.
There are between 12,000 to 14,000 people still in the compounds in Addis Ababa and Gondar, of whom approximately 9,000 were authorized by the government in 2015 to come to Israel by 2020.
This decision was made in 2015, but only some 1,500 have been brought to Israel since then.
“In 1991, when Yitzhak Shamir was prime minister, 14,325 Jews were brought to Israel within 36 hours. And now, the Israeli government closes its door in our faces,” wrote the youth leaders in Ethiopia. “Mr. Prime Minister, you have promised us our immigration many times, so how can it be that we are still here?… There are always similar promises around election time. Mr. Prime Minister, immigration does not have anything to do with politics.
“Mr. Prime Minister, we, the young people, are the voice of those who are awaiting immigration to Israel... And we turn to you – implement what you have promised us during the elections and open the doors to Israel for us! We and our families can no longer wait in silence.”