Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his Ethiopian counterpart that his country intends to “immediately” fight against about 5,000 Ethiopian Jews. The announcement came after a phone call with Prime Minister Abiya Ahmed on Friday.
Netanyahu’s office said the decision was “due to the Jews’ continued commitment to Israel’s Elijah.”
About 13,000 Ethiopian Jews are in the capital, Addis Ababa and Gondar, most of them waiting to be taken to Israel, whom they call home. Most live in dire conditions and have threatened to go on a hunger strike if they are not allowed to travel to their “homeland”. Many say they have family members who have settled in Israel.
“About 250 people have left for Israel in the last year until COVID-19 arrives. Now the travel has stopped, but Israeli officials are conducting online interviews, “Nigusi Alemu Issu, program director for the Ethiopian Jewish community, told the Associated Press.
Activists say the Israeli government promised in 2015 to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In 1991, when Ethiopia was in the midst of a civil war, Israel carried out a dramatic operation in which about 14,500 Ethiopian Jews were expelled in less than two days.
Ethiopian Jews are often called “flash” in Ethiopia, an insulting word that translates to “strangers” or “migrants.”
