Ethiopian Jews in Israel

Ethiopian Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants from the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia who now reside in Israel. To a lesser, but notable, extent, the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel is also composed of Falash Mura, a community of Beta Israel which had converted to Christianity over the course of the past two centuries, but were permitted to immigrate to Israel upon returning to Israelite religion - this time largely to Rabbinic Judaism.

Most of the community made aliyah from Ethiopia to Israel in two waves of mass immigration assisted by the Israeli government: Operation Moses (1984), and Operation Solomon (1991). Today, Israel is home to the largest Beta Israel community in the world, with about 160,500 citizens of Ethiopian descent in 2021, who are mainly assembled in the smaller urban areas of central Israel.

History

First wave (1934–1960)

The first Ethiopian Jews who settled in Israel in the modern times came in 1934 along with the Yemenite Jews from Italian Eritrea.

Second wave: (1961–1975)

Between the years 1963 and 1975, a relatively small group of Beta Israel emigrated to Israel. The Beta Israel immigrants during that period were mainly men who had studied and come to Israel on a tourist visa, and then remained in the country illegally.

Several of their supporters in Israel, who recognized their "Jewishness", decided to assist them. These supporters began organizing in associations, among others under the direction of Ovadia Hazzi, an Eritrean-born Yemeni Jew who married a Beta Israel woman in Israel. With the assistance of these support associations, a number of illegal immigrants managed to get their status regularized by the Israeli authorities. Some agreed to convert to Judaism, so as to be able to remain in Israel. People who obtained regularization often brought their families to Israel as well.

In 1973, Ovadia Hazzi officially raised the question of the "Jewishness" of the Beta Israel with Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. The rabbi, citing a rabbinic ruling from the 16th century David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra, asserted that the Beta Israel were descendants of the lost tribe of Dan, and eventually acknowledged their "Jewishness" in February 1973. This ruling was initially rejected by the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who eventually changed his opinion on the matter in 1974.

In April 1975, the Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin officially accepted the Beta Israel as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return (an Israeli act which grants all the Jews in the world the right to immigrate to Israel).

Later on, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin obtained clear rulings from Chief Sephardi Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that they were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel did, however, initially require them to undergo ''pro forma'' Jewish conversions, to remove any doubt as to their Jewish status.

Third wave: (1975–1990)

Operation Brothers

* November 1979 – 1983: Aliyah activists and Mossad agents operating in Sudan, including Ferede Aklum, called the Beta Israel to come to Sudan where they would eventually be taken to Israel via Europe. Jewish Ethiopian refugees from the Ethiopian Civil War in the mid 1970s began to arrive at the refugee camps in Sudan. Most Beta Israel came from Tigray, which was then controlled by the TPLF, which often escorted them to the Sudanese border. Many Ethiopian Jews also immigrated to Israel to flee from the civil war, famine during and after the war, as well as hostility toward Ethiopian Jews. In 1981, the Jewish Defense League protested against the "lack of action" to rescue Ethiopian Jews by taking over the main offices of HIAS in Manhattan.
* 1983 – March 28, 1985: this emigration wave was in part motivated by word of mouth reports on the success of the emigration of many Jewish refugees to Israel. In 1983, the governor of Gondar region, Major Melaku Teferra, was ousted as governor and his successor removed restrictions on travel. Beta Israel began to arrive in large numbers and the Mossad was unable to evacuate them in time. Due to poor conditions in the camps, many refugees died of disease and hunger. Of these victims, it is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 were Beta Israel. In late 1984, the Sudanese government, following the intervention of the United States, allowed the emigration of 7,200 Beta Israel refugees to Europe. They immediately flew from there to Israel. The first of two operations during this period was Operation Moses (original name: "The Lion of Judah's Cub"), which took place between November 20, 1984 and January 20, 1985, during which time 6,500 people emigrated to Israel. A few weeks later, the U.S. Air Force evacuated the 494 Beta Israel refugees remaining in Sudan to Israel in Operation Joshua. The second operation was mainly carried out due to the intervention and international pressure of the United States.

Fourth wave (1990–1999)

* 1991 ( Operation Solomon): In 1991, the political and economic stability of Ethiopia deteriorated as rebels mounted attacks against, and eventually controlled, the capital city of Addis Ababa. Worried about the fate of the Beta Israel during the transition period, the Israeli government, together with several private groups, secretly prepared to continue with the migration. Over the course of the next 36 hours, a total of 34 El Al passenger planes, with their seats removed to maximize passenger capacity, flew 14,325 Beta Israel directly to Israel. Again, the operation was mainly carried out due to the intervention and international pressure of the U.S. Dr. Rick Hodes, an American doctor who emigrated to Ethiopia, was the medical director for Operation Solomon. It was a difficult two days as he covertly arranged for a number of very ill people to be air-lifted to Israel.
* 1992–1999: During these years, the Qwara Beta Israel emigrated to Israel.

Falash Mura (1993–present)

* 1993–present: From 1993 onwards, an irregular emigration began of Falash Mura, which was and still is mainly subjected to political developments in Israel. These immigrants are required to convert from Christianity to Judaism.Weil, S., 2016. "The Complexities of Conversion among the 'Felesmura'". In: Eloi Ficquet, Ahmed Hassen and Thomas Osmond (eds.), Movements in Ethiopia, Ethiopia in Movement: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa: French Center for Ethiopian Studies, Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University; Los Angeles: Tsehai Publishers, Vol. 1 pp. 435–445
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*2018: In August 2018, the Netanyahu government vowed to bring in 1,000 Falasha Jews from Ethiopia.
*2019: In April 2019 an estimated 8,000 Falasha were waiting to leave Ethiopia
*2020: On February 25, 2020, 43 Falasha arrived in Israel from Ethiopia.
*2021:On November 14, 2021 Falasha Jews in Israel stage a protest so their relatives left behind in Ethiopia can go to Israel. On November 29, 2021, the Israeli Government permitted 3,000 Falasha Jews to go to Israel.
*2022:On February 2, 2022, the Israeli "Supreme Court issues interim order halting Aliyah from Ethiopia". On March 15, 2022, Israel's High Court of Justice decided to remove an interim order which had halted the immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Absorption in Israel

Ethiopian Beta Israel are gradually becoming part of the mainstream Israeli society in religious life, military service (with nearly all males doing national service), education, and politics. Similarly to other groups of immigrant Jews, who made aliyah to Israel, the Ethiopian Beta Israel have faced obstacles in their integration to Israeli society. The Ethiopian Beta Israel community's internal challenges have been complicated by: entering a relatively modern country (Israel) from non-modern, rural, remote regions of Ethiopia (compared with other immigrant groups entering from industrialized countries, and who typically possess significantly greater formal education); the disruption of long-standing hierarchies and customs within Beta Israel in which elders lead and guide their community; some racial prejudice, echoing racism that has existed in neighboring Middle Eastern countries and in Western countries; and a degree of lingering doubt within a minority of groups regarding the "Jewishness" of certain Ethiopians (e. g., the Falash Mura). However, with successive generations, Ethiopian Israelis have climbed in Israeli society.

Individual Ethiopian Beta Israel had lived in Eretz Yisrael prior to the establishment of the state. A youth group arrived in Israel in the 1950s to undergo training in Hebrew education, and returned to Ethiopia to educate young Beta Israeli community members there. Also, Ethiopian Beta Israel had been trickling into Israel prior to the 1970s. The numbers of such Ethiopian immigrants grew after the Israeli government officially recognized them in 1973 as Jews, entitled to Israeli citizenship.Fenter, "Ethnicity", p. 181.

To prepare for the absorption of tens of thousands of Ethiopian Beta Israel, the State of Israel prepared two "Master Plans" (Ministry of Absorption, 1985, 1991). The first was prepared in 1985, a year after the arrival of the first wave of immigrants. The second updated the first in response to the second wave of immigration in 1991 from Ethiopia. The first Master Plan contained an elaborate and detailed program. It covered issues of housing, education, employment, and practical organization, together with policy guidelines regarding specific groups, including women, youths, and single-parent families. Like earlier absorption policies, it adopted a procedural approach which assumed that the immigrants were broadly similar to the existing majority population of Israel. The Plans were created with a firm belief in assimilation. As noted in this section, results have been disappointing, and suggest that much greater attention needs to be paid to issues of ethnicity.

According to a 1999 BBC
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