(Photo: Miriam Alster/Flash90)
By Times of Israel - November 28, 2021
Ministers voted on Sunday to okay the immigration of thousands of Ethiopians who have been waiting for years to fly to Israel, many spending the period in transit camps.
The decision came amid rising calls from leaders and members of Israel’s Ethiopian community to swiftly bring over those still waiting to emigrate as a civil war in the country heats up.
However, recent operations that brought over relatively small groups of Ethiopians have been dogged by claims that some have no Jewish ancestry or have committed war crimes.
Those included in the proposed plan have first-degree relatives in Israel and were eligible to immigrate under a 2015 government decision, under which 9,000 people who have first-degree relatives in Israel and had arrived in camps in Gondar or Addis Ababa by 2010 would be brought to the Jewish state.
Some 4,000 Ethiopians were brought to Israel following the 2015 decision, but reports indicate the number of those waiting to leave has since swelled from 5,000 to around 8,000.
They will be brought to Israel “in the near future,” pending instructions from the Health Ministry, according to the approved plan.
Read More: Times of Israel