A plane carrying some 200 immigrants from Ethiopia landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Wednesday. Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata and Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel were there to meet it.
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The operation is under way thanks to donations from the Jewish Federations of North America, the JNF-KKL, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and various pro-Israel donors around the world.
The immigration plan was able to resume only after a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Ethiopia was resolved. The Ethiopian authorities were offended by various actions Israel took – starting with an incident in which a secret Mossad mission brought 77 Ethiopian citizens to Israel out of concern their lives were in danger because of the fighting in the Tigray region.
However, once they were in Israel, most of them turned out to be Christians who had no ties to Judaism, and most admitted that they had not been in danger and simply wanted to find work in Israel. After the names of the immigrants were revealed, the Ethiopian government argued that some had taken an active part in waging war against it by joining the ranks of the Tigray rebels.
A few months later, another problem arose when the Israeli government raised difficulties for a group of Christian Ethiopian pilgrims who wanted to visit Jerusalem for Easter.
In response, Addis Ababa decided to hold up passports for the emigrants entitled to leave for Israel. A change of officials in Ethiopia's population administration also created delays. Extensive negotiations involving MK Gadi Yevarkan, the Foreign Ministry, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett led to a breakthrough.
Representatives of the Ethiopians waiting to depart for Israel sent a letter to a delegation of Israeli doctors who were visiting Ethiopia on a humanitarian mission. Yevarkan, who was part of the delegation and maintains close ties with the Ethiopian government, contacted the Prime Minister's office and rolled up his sleeves. Meanwhile, Tamano-Shata pressured the Foreign Ministry to intervene and even put all her political weight to bear in order to secure government support for the aliyah operation.
Eventually, feathers were soothed and the Ethiopian authorities began issuing passports for the emigrants waiting in transit camps in Addis Ababa and Gondar. Initially, 310 emigrants received passports, some 200 of whom were on the flight that arrived Wednesday. In the next few months, Ethiopia is expected to issue passports for over 2,700 of the emigrants waiting in camps.
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Operation Tzur Yisrael was relaunched after a government decision in November 2021. It seeks to bring some 3,000 Ethiopians to Israel. The fresh arrivals and the rest of the immigrants who arrive in Israel as part of the operation will be sent to five absorption centers set up by the Aliyah and Integration Ministry following the government's decision. The ministry has prepared plans to help the new arrivals acclimate quickly that include Hebrew lessons, employment advice, and rapid integration into the school system for children as well as emotional and medical support.
The operation is under way thanks to donations from the Jewish Federations of North America, the JNF-KKL, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and various pro-Israel donors around the world.
Speaking a ceremony at the airport to welcome the new arrivals, Tamano-Shata said, "A five-hour flight has closed decades of waiting. A five-hour flight that marks the end of a long journey ending and a new one beginning here in Israel."
Hagoel said, "We are watching … a dream become reality. For over a decades, thousands of family members have been eagerly waiting to be reunited with their relatives in Israel and start their lives in the new-old country. Today, the Jewish Agency and the Aliyah and Integration ministry are playing a part in an operation that will go down in the history books of the Jewish people."
