Israel's Cabinet has approved a plan to bring about 8,000 more Falash Mura – Ethiopians of Jewish ancestry – to Israel over the next four years. The Cabinet's approval follows an agreement reached by aid groups that once these 8,000 Ethiopians are brought to Israel mass immigration from there would come to an end. Falash Mura are Ethiopians who have family links to descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity generations ago. As a condition for making aliya under Israel's Law of Return, the Falash Mura must embrace Judaism.
"From my perspective, this closes a cycle because during my first term as prime minister, I brought approximately 5,000 Falash Mura to Israel," Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet. "Today, we are discussing an arrangement with all of the relevant bodies, and there are many, so that we might finally resolve this painful and complicated problem."
The Ethiopians currently awaiting aliya live in the city of Gondar, where they receive aid services from the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry and health services from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Under the deal reached by the aid groups, the Jewish Agency for Israel will take over many of the aid operations, which will cease once the 8,000 people are brought to Israel. The Ethiopians will be brought at a rate of approximately 200 per month over the course of the next four years.
