The plan to disengage Ethiopians from Israeli society that Deputy Public Security Minister Gadi Yevarkan is supposedly preparing, as reported in Israel Hayom, is cheap populism, wool over people's eyes, unfeasible, and mainly, isolationist.
However, none of us should get upset about Yevarkan's proposal. A person who is unable to get rid of his own ministry's director general, who allegedly made racist remarks about the Ethiopian-Israeli community when he said "do you think that Ethiopians will play with Jews," won't be able to build any town solely for Israelis of Ethiopian descent, or even a tiny cabin in the desert.
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Deputy Minister Yevarkan's proposal highlights one of the saddest aspects of the current government – the establishment of separate institutions and governments for Ethiopian Israelis.
If we look at recent appointments, we will learn that the government is carrying out a social disengagement and distancing Ethiopian citizens from the Israeli tribe by creating a sort of Ethiopian autonomy and ghetto.
In the next few months, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi is due to decide on a new Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, which is supposed to be an important diplomatic appointment. They're looking for an Ethiopian to fill the post. All right – it would be better if the person weren't just Ethiopian, but also someone from the Blue and White camp, a political animal in every fiber of their being, and even better – someone who abandoned the Likud to join Blue and White.
It appears they found one. Alali Adamso will likely be appointed ambassador to Ethiopia! They looked for an Ethiopian, and they found one! Adamso's appointment demonstrates the country's mood of making every Ethiopian responsible for other Ethiopians, both here and there. Adamso might be qualified to serve as Israel's ambassador to the US, to Poland, to Germany, to South Africa, or anywhere else, if it weren't for the strange argument in favor of sending him to Ethiopia that he knows how to read and write Amharic. Perfect, right?
The government appointed an official to take charge of the integration of Ethiopian Israelis by putting one in as deputy public security minister. Before we had a chance to digest the exciting appointment of a deputy minister being put in charge of us, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to give the community another present in the form of another political player, an advisor to the prime minister on Ethiopian affairs – Avraham Negosa.
We don't know how to handle all the bounty that the government is heaping on us all of a sudden. And now the deputy minister in charge of us wants to cut us off and send us into the desert of isolationism.
Recently, a number of advisors from the Ethiopian-Israeli community have been appointed. Appointments like these are welcome, but they are also dangerous for the community. "Niche" jobs, like niche communities, are no longer relevant in Israel. In my opinion, niche appointments are more dangerous than not appointing Ethiopian-Israelis to any jobs at all. A series of appointments like these demonstrates one thing – that Ethiopians should take care of Ethiopians, and all the rest of the ministries will take care of the Israelis who are not of Ethiopian descent. These appointments are a way for all government ministries to tell us, loud and clear: As Ethiopian immigrants, if you have problems with the establishment, go to the person in charge on behalf of the government.
If an Ethiopian complains about being excluded from society or about racism, he will be sent to the government official in charge of Ethiopians. In short, we have a Coordinator of Government Activities for Ethiopians. Members of the community find it hard to criticize these appointments. On one hand, for the first time in 40 years they have high-ranking representatives in politics, but on the other, these condescending appointments are a way for the government to keep us from being part of the Israeli narrative.
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