ETHIOPIAN JEWS: NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!

he remaining community of Ethiopian Jews sent a clear message to Israel in their Rosh Hashanah wish saying “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

There are still Some 7,500 Ethiopian Jews living in Gondar and Addis Ababa

Under Prime Minster Netanyahu, the government passed resolution 716 in 2015 which approved the aliyah of the remaining Jews of Ethiopia to Israel. However, this assurance has still not been implemented –  reasons given by the Israeli government are due to budgetary strains and political opposition in Israel.

A.Y. Katsof, the head of The Heart of Israel said told The Jerusalem Post in July 2019, that “Until a new government is formed after the September 17 elections, no new decision can be made [to bring the remaining members of the community], we have to wait,” explained A.Y. Katsof, the head of The Heart of Israel, who has dedicated his life to bringing Jews back to their homeland. “It’s really sad and it’s not understandable.”

He continued, ” Jewish communities in Gondar and Addis Ababa are living in dire conditions and with pillars of the community already living in Israel, ‘they are falling apart.'”

The [Ethiopian Jewish community] is the only one people who are really in a situation of life and death, facing real-life danger and really need it.”

They’re the only people [who have] put a number on who can come and how many can come can come, it’s really sad.”

“We’ve been crying to come home for over 2,000 years,” he said, echoing their call. “It’s part of their culture, Jerusalem is their home.”

In October 2018, the Israeli government permitted 1,000 members of the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia who have children currently living in Israel to immigrate. However, many members of their community fulfilled the criteria decided upon by the Interior Ministry and other government agencies.

The Law of Return does not give the Falash Mura the right to citizenship because it is claimed their their ancestors converted to Christianity under force. Rather, they would be given Israeli citizenship under the Law of Entry by the interior minister, mainly for family reunification principles. They would need to undergo a formal conversion to Judaism on coming to Israel.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem organization has supported the plight of the remaining Ethiopians assigning $1.2 million towards financing the 1,000 immigrating to Israel.