Approximately two-thirds of the Jewish public in Israel feel that active aliyah by people who are not designated Jews at the time of their arrival in Israel poses a danger to Israel's character as a Jewish state, a new survey by the Smith Institute indicates.

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The survey was commissioned by the Israeli Immigration Policy Center after the government's decision last week to allow thousands of Ethiopians of Jewish background from Addis Ababa and Gondor to make aliyah. The survey included 500 respondents from the Jewish population in Israel.

The survey also examined Jewish Israelis' feelings about bringing non-Jewish citizens of foreign countries to Israel. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said they supported allowing non-Jews to make aliyah only insofar as they qualified to do so under the Law of Return and only 24% said they supported allowing non-Jews to make aliyah in the context of family reunification.

Among respondents who identified as Yesh Atid voters, 51% said that non-Jews should be allowed to make aliyah only if qualified under the Law of Return, and 37% supported the idea of allowing non-Jews to make aliyah to reunited families.

The survey also examined the public's views on the unique situation in Ethiopia, following a determination in the early 2000s that there were no Ethiopian Jews left in that country. Meanwhile, from 2013-2019, only 2% of immigrants from Ethiopia were registered as Jews in the Interior Ministry.

Given these statistics, 52-58% of respondents opposed allowing aliyah on the basis on family reunification only, while 27-28% said they supported allowing non-Jews to make aliyah for the purpose of family reunification, and 20% did not have an opinion.

The Israeli Immigration Policy Center issued a statement in response to the results of the survey: "The security fence that stopped the illegal migration from Africa has been broken wide open. The Jewish Agency and the government ministries have simply opened a detour and continue to bring tens of thousands of non-Jews to Israel, even though time and again it is proven that they have only the most tenuous links to Judaism.

"The public understands that there is a need for a constitutional fence in the form of the Law of Return against this new infiltration, which is taking place under the auspices of the authorities' helplessness and on the basis of family reunification," the center said.

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While Yevarkan told Israel Hayom that a new town for Ethiopian-Israelis would be the "fulfillment of a dream," many members of the community said it would take them "many steps backward."

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Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, also an immigrant from Ethiopia, said, "The project for an Ethiopian-only town is foolishness, and this thinking will lead to separatism and segregation for Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. It won't happen on my watch!"

Tamano-Shata said that if Yevarkan supported the idea of an Ethiopian-only community, he should not be trying to fight segregated schools.

"He is actually calling for Ethiopian-Israelis to be separated from the rest of the population," the aliyah and integration minister said.

In a Facebook post directed at Yevarkan, Tamano-Shata wrote: "You are making a mistake, a big mistake. Our forefathers' dream was never to build a separate community for Ethiopian Jews in Israel, and certainly not to live in separate communities, but rather to return to Zion and reunite with the rest of the Tribes of Israel."

"Sadly, there are already neighborhoods that have turned into 'Ethiopian communities' … this idea puts the community back years," Tamano-Shata wrote.

After coming into blistering criticism, Yevarkan told Israel Hayom that he wanted to clarify that "a community of this kind would provide a housing solution for young couples. The town would be founded based on having a majority Ethiopian-Israeli population, and on the heritage and culture of the Beta Israel people and the Jewish people, with the rich cultural life, concern for each other, love for people and the Land of Israel on which we were raised.

"The values that characterize the Beta Israel community can be a model for the rest of Israeli society. There is no better place for these values to flourish than one of empowerment. Anyone who is not Ethiopian-Israeli and wants to be part of the town will be welcome," Yevarkan said.

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The proposal is the brainchild of Deputy Public Security Minister Gadi Yevarkan, himself a member of the Ethiopian-Israeli community, who recently met with Construction and Housing Minister Yakov Litzman. The two agreed on a series of actions to be taken to improve the lot of Ethiopian Israelis.

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Yevarkan presented an overview of the community's housing needs, and also suggested ideas to promote employment initiatives in the community.

The two sides agreed that Yevarkan would compile housing plans that would be submitted to the Construction and Housing Ministry for evaluation by its professional staff. It appears that such a plan might be given a green light and approved for central Israel.

Yevarkan told Israel Hayom, "I'm excited, this is great news. The significance of establishing a town for the Beta [Israel] community is the fulfillment of the dream of our forefathers, going back generations, to build a home in the ancestral land they dreamed of.

"A dedicated town for Ethiopian immigrants in Israel will be founded 40 years too late, but it's good that it will be founded. This is a small step for the state, but a giant step for the community. I am enormously privileged to be part of this pioneering project," he said.

Yevarkan expressed his thanks to Litzman for cooperating with his vision.

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