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Ethiopian Jews in Israel
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Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Ethiopian Jews in Israel or Beta Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants from the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia. To a lesser extent, the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel also includes Falash Mura, a community of Beta Israel who had converted to Christianity over the course of the prior 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 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 177,600 citizens of Ethiopian descent in 2024, who mainly reside in southern and central Israel.
The first Ethiopian Jews who settled in Israel in modern times came in 1934 along with the Yemenite Jews from Italian Eritrea.
Between 1963 and 1975, a relatively small group of Beta Israel moved to Israel. They were mainly men who had come to Israel on a tourist visa, and then remained in the country.
In 1973, Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, cited a rabbinic ruling of the Radbaz, Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, and two former Ashkenazic chief rabbis of Israel, Abraham Isaac Kook and Isaac Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, declaring the Beta Yisrael Jews according to Halachah. He said: "It is our duty to redeem them from assimilation, to hasten their immigration to Israel, to educate them in the spirit of our holy Torah and to make them partners in the building of our sacred land....I am certain that the government institutions and the Jewish Agency, as well as organizations in Israel and the Diaspora, will help us to the best of our ability in this holy task..., the Mitzvah of redeeming the souls of our people...for everyone who saves one soul in Israel, it is as though he had saved the whole world. In 1974, Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren also ruled that the Ethiopian Jews are a part of the Jewish people and this had already been established by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.
In April 1975, the Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin officially accepted the Beta Israel as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return (which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel).
From 1975 onwards, the majority of the Ethiopian Jews made aliyah under the 1950 Law of Return. Several undercover rescue missions were organized by activists and Mossad agents to get them out of Ethiopia.
The largest obstacle facing the Israeli Ethiopian Beta Israel community is likely the low level of formal education of the majority of immigrants, who lacked the necessary skills for a developed economy like Israel. Because of the rural nature of Ethiopia, illiteracy was widespread, although young people were generally better educated than their elders. As a result, the incredibly abrupt transition from Ethiopian village life to Israel had a significant impact on their integration into Israeli society. On a number of important socioeconomic indicators, Israelis of Ethiopian descent rank below the general Hebrew speaking.
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Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Ethiopian Jews in Israel or Beta Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants from the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia. To a lesser extent, the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel also includes Falash Mura, a community of Beta Israel who had converted to Christianity over the course of the prior 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 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 177,600 citizens of Ethiopian descent in 2024, who mainly reside in southern and central Israel.
The first Ethiopian Jews who settled in Israel in modern times came in 1934 along with the Yemenite Jews from Italian Eritrea.
Between 1963 and 1975, a relatively small group of Beta Israel moved to Israel. They were mainly men who had come to Israel on a tourist visa, and then remained in the country.
In 1973, Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, cited a rabbinic ruling of the Radbaz, Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, and two former Ashkenazic chief rabbis of Israel, Abraham Isaac Kook and Isaac Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, declaring the Beta Yisrael Jews according to Halachah. He said: "It is our duty to redeem them from assimilation, to hasten their immigration to Israel, to educate them in the spirit of our holy Torah and to make them partners in the building of our sacred land....I am certain that the government institutions and the Jewish Agency, as well as organizations in Israel and the Diaspora, will help us to the best of our ability in this holy task..., the Mitzvah of redeeming the souls of our people...for everyone who saves one soul in Israel, it is as though he had saved the whole world. In 1974, Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren also ruled that the Ethiopian Jews are a part of the Jewish people and this had already been established by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.
In April 1975, the Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin officially accepted the Beta Israel as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return (which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel).
From 1975 onwards, the majority of the Ethiopian Jews made aliyah under the 1950 Law of Return. Several undercover rescue missions were organized by activists and Mossad agents to get them out of Ethiopia.
The largest obstacle facing the Israeli Ethiopian Beta Israel community is likely the low level of formal education of the majority of immigrants, who lacked the necessary skills for a developed economy like Israel. Because of the rural nature of Ethiopia, illiteracy was widespread, although young people were generally better educated than their elders. As a result, the incredibly abrupt transition from Ethiopian village life to Israel had a significant impact on their integration into Israeli society. On a number of important socioeconomic indicators, Israelis of Ethiopian descent rank below the general Hebrew speaking.