Aliyah continues even as Ben-Gurion International Airport is technically closed due to COVID. On Friday, a plane carrying 330 new immigrants from Ethiopia landed in Tel Aviv.
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Passengers on board included 69 children and another 17 babies and toddlers age two and under.
Friday's flight was the seventh to arrive in Israel as part of an operation initiated by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata.
All the new arrivals tested negative for COVID prior to leaving Ethiopia. Starting Friday, they will be required to comply with Israel's mandatory quarantine procedures and will be housed in dedicated facilities run by the Aliyah and Integration Ministry and the Jewish Agency for Israel, in coordination with the IDF Home Front Command.
One of the young olim, six-year-old Binyamin Tasfahun, requires lifesaving medical treatment in Israel due to a congenital heart defect. When Israel first decided to close down the airport, Binyamin's family was informed that his medical flight would have to be postponed. On Thursday, a Twitter post protesting the decision went viral. User Avi Yalou called it "unbelievable" that singer Ninette Tayeb had received special permission to fly abroad whereas young Binyamin was forced to wait for treatment he could only receive in Israel.
Tamano-Shata said that "every aliyah from Ethiopia is exiting and special, but this time the flight is especially moving because it was postponed twice due to the closed skies. The people of Israel should know that even in times of crisis the skies haven't been hermetically closed to new olim, that the door is always open to Jews. I hope that the new olim can celebrate the upcoming Shabbat in Israel, in all its glory."
Tamano-Shata added that as soon as she was informed of the case of Binyamin Tasfahun, she decided to handle it personally.
"His arrival in Israel involved battles against bureaucracy, but it was a battle that needed to be fought, a Jewish, humane battle… I wish little Binyamin good health and a quick recovery," the minister said.
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