Israel Increases Ethiopian Immigration
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When Meles Mandefro heard that Israel was rescuing Ethiopian Jews, he sold his possessions and moved his family into a dilapidated shack in Addis Ababa. With hopes of living in the Promised Land, Mandefro submitted an immigration application to the Israeli embassy. Nine years later, he is still waiting for approval. The delay has taken an emotional toll, because dozens of his family members - including his younger brother and his wife’s parents - already live in Israel. “The waiting is too much,” Mandefro’s wife recently told The New York Times. “Even if we’re walking around, we’re dead inside. We’ve stopped living here. Our families are there in Israel. Our lives are there.”

WHY THE WAIT?
Mandefro is a member of the Falash Mura, an Ethiopian group whose Jewish ancestors were forced to convert to Christianity at the end of the 19th century. Now they wish to return to Judaism. The Falash Mura lived in obscurity until 1991, when thousands of them flocked to Addis Ababa, hoping to board planes sent by Israel to rescue Beta Yisrael, the lost Jews of Ethiopia. Beta Yisrael, unlike the Falash Mura, never abandoned Judaism and, therefore, qualified for immediate immigration under Israel’s Law of Return.

ARE THE FALASH MURA JEWS?
During the miraculous airlift, Israel saved 14,300 Beta Yisrael in 24 hours, but the Falash Mura were left behind because Israeli officials doubted they were Jewish. Moreover, the government considered them opportunists who were seeking to escape famine in Ethiopia. Rabbinic authorities, however, disagreed. Citing the Talmud’s opinion that a Jew remains a Jew “even though he [or she] has sinned,” they concluded that the Falash Mura are part “of the seed of Israel” and should be fathered into the Land of Israel with other exiles. Demonstrating their sincere intent to return to Judaism, the Falash Mura began studying Torah, and observing Shabbat and holidays.

A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Despite Israel’s decision prohibiting their immigration, Falash Mura refugees poured into Addis Ababa, where they lived in disease-ridden camps. In a humanitarian gesture, Israel announced that the Falash Mura community, approximately 4,000 people, would be brought to the Jewish state. But this decision didn’t solve the crisis; soon thousands of Falash Mura filled the camps. As famine raged and living conditions worsened, Israeli officials developed a new approach. Individual applications for immigration would be considered and priority given to Falash Mura who could document their Jewish ancestry, and to special humanitarian cases.

A QUOTA CAUSES COMPLAINTS
To manage the expensive costs of integrating the Falash Mura into Israeli society, the government established immigration quotas, beginning with 300 people per month in 2001. This approach angered many Ethiopian Jewry advocates. “Putting economic considerations before saving Jews is a crime against Zionism,” says Avraham Neguise, a leading activist. Neguise’s opposition finally proved convincing. In January, Prime Minister Sharon announced that the Falash Mura will be brought to Israel by 2007. To achieve this goal, the number of immigrants will be doubled starting in June 2005. “We’re talking about a serious economic undertaking,” the new Interior Minister Ophir Paz-Pines told BabagaNewz. “We will insist on these new arrivals being absorbed in established, strong communities in the center of the country, which will make their absorption easier.”