Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata and Jewish Agency Isaac Herzog will depart for Addis Ababa on Saturday night ahead of the aliyah of 2,000 members of Ethiopia's Falash Mura community currently in transit camps in the country's capital and Gondar.
Israeli officials have been working to expedite their aliyah in light of the deteriorating security and economic situations in the African country.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Ahead of her departure, Tamano-Shata, who made aliyah to Israel from Ethiopia at the age of three, said, "It's a mission and a great honor for me to bring so many people home who have been waiting for decades to fulfill the dream of Jerusalem."
Herzog said, "We look forward to receiving thousands of immigrants who will be reunited with their families after many years. The State of Israel has an obligation to act to end this painful saga that has gone on for generations."
Unlike Ethiopian Jews, whom Israel began airlifting out of Ethiopia in the 1980s after the Chief Rabbinate accepted that they were full-fledged Jews and many of whom live observant Jewish lifestyles in Israel, the Falash Mura are Christians who claim distant Jewish lineage. Therefore, their eligibility to make aliyah has been the subject of much debate and compromise.
Tamano-Shata lamented that "unfortunately, many in the community are waiting, living in difficult conditions, and their situation is getting worse as a result of the coronavirus. I am excited to bring together families who have been separated for so many years, and I intend to work with the relevant officials to implement the government's decision [to bring them to Israel] as quickly as possible."
She was "excited to return as a minister to the country of my birth that I left at the age of three in Operation Moses, this time to carry out a national operation of the highest order on behalf of the Israeli government."
According to Tamano-Shata, "One of the national targets I set for myself as immigration and absorption minister is to put an end to the saga of those waiting [to make aliyah] in Ethiopia, an injustice that cries out to heaven for decades and causes families to separate and incredible damage to the souls who seek to reunite with their families. This Saturday night, I will fly to Ethiopia and visit the transit camps. Along with myself, 500 new immigrants will make aliyah - 500 of our people who will get to realize the vision of our forefathers and arrive in Jerusalem.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
"The Israeli government cannot abandon and neglect our brothers and sisters waiting in Ethiopia for years upon years. This injustice that cries out to heaven must come to an end, and I will continue to act until the last of those waiting makes aliyah to Israel and is united with their family … With the aliyah of the immigrants from Ethiopia and all over the world, we hope to reach the goal and forecast we set for 2020, which is 20,000 new immigrants."
Herzog added, "This is an exciting moment. The employees of the Jewish Agency look forward to receiving thousands of immigrants who will be reunited with their families after many years [of being apart]. The State of Israel has an obligation to bring the rest of those waiting [to immigrate to Israel] and put an end to this painful saga.
He noted, "The Jewish Agency accompanies the new immigrants from the moment they prepare to leave Ethiopia and brings them to the absorption centers across Israel, and for two years, absorbs them in the State of Israel for their assimilation."
