34 Ethiopian Jews immigrate to Israel: ‘Unite them with their families’

The new immigrants will enter quarantine in a hostel in northern Israel, according to Israeli coronavirus regulations.

“It is time to place an end to the suffering of those waiting in transit camps in Ethiopia and to unite them with their families here in Israel – soon with the cooperation of the Prime Minister’s Office I will file a plan to speed up the immigration and closing of the camps,” said Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata.

In June, Tamano-Shata stated that she intends to bring all remaining members of the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia to Israel, stating that it was an “injustice that screams to the heavens.”

The Falash Mura, descendants of Jews who converted under duress from Judaism to Christianity in the late 19th century, have been allowed to enter Israel since 1993 through the Law of Entry, since the Law of Return excludes those who converted away from Judaism from automatic immigration rights.

While many of the community’s first immigrants were of maternal Jewish descent, almost all of those remaining are of paternal Jewish descent.

During the course of the immigration, many families were split apart, and many of those still waiting in Ethiopia have parents, children and siblings in Israel.

“I congratulate the new immigrants who landed tonight in Israel and realized the Zionist vision to arrive to Jerusalem, after long years waiting in transit camps in Gundar and Adis Ababa,” said Jewish Agency Chairman Yitzhak Herzog.

Some 9,300 new immigrants from around the world have entered Israel since the beginning of 2020.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.