A vote by Israel's government to approve the immigration of thousands of Ethiopians did not take place on Sunday, a government official said, casting doubt on an attempt to reunite hundreds of families split between the two countries.
The families need the government to agree to fund the immigration of 8,000 Ethiopians before parliament votes on the 2019 state budget, expected this week. Israel does not consider the Ethiopians Jewish, which is why they need government approval to immigrate.
The official said the government discussed the issue but did not vote on it.
Alisa Bodner, an activist with a group pushing for the immigration, said that "as of now, the issue of Ethiopian immigration is not in the budget."
She said the issue was delayed to another meeting, but it was not clear whether it could still be included in the budget.
The families see the issue as part of an inconsistent and discriminatory immigration policy and they and their supporters plan to protest outside parliament Monday.
Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants demonstrated outside Israel's parliament on Monday, demanding the government fulfill a pledge to bring their relatives to Israel.
"I have two sisters in Ethiopia still waiting for 13 years. Our mother is crying day and night, let's stop this pain," Sefi Bililin said at the protest Monday.
Bodner said the families have had enough and feel "their lives are worth just as much as any other lives here in Israel."
