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Photo: AP
Waiting to come: Falashmura
Photo: AP

'Bring them before they get sick'

Government to consider Jewish Agency report pushing for quicker immigration of Ethiopian Jews

Efforts are being increased to bring more Ethiopian immigrants to Israel, the Jewish Agency said on Wednesday, in what would make up the largest mass aliya in years.

 

The Ministerial Committee for Falash Mura Affairs is set to meet Wednesday to discuss Agency recommendations to double the rate of Ethiopian immigration to Israel from the current 300 per month to about 600.

 

If accepted, the plan would slash the projected length of the project from seven-to-ten years to about two-to-three years.

 

About 20,000 Jews remain in Ethiopia.

 

According to a report by former Finance Minister David Brodet prepared for the Jewish Agency, bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel quickly will benefit both new immigrants and the state.

 

“There is a lot of logic in speeding up the rate of Ethiopian aliya (immigration),” the report said. “There are economic and social benefits.”

 

Jewish Agency officials also said they hoped the government would present a formal time frame to carry out and complete the operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

 

Jewish Agency President Sallai Meridor said an expedited program of aliya will save the country NIS 100 million (USD 22.3 million).

 

“People will come to Israel younger, healthier and better educated,” he said. He added that an expedited program would allow the Jewish Agency to close down camps and services in Ethiopia.

 

Speed integration

 

The report states that pushing the program forward will allow immigrants to integrate into Israeli society quickly and will increase the number of years they live in Israel.

 

It emphasizes young people, who account for 50 percent of Ethiopian immigrants, and says that bring them to Israel quickly will increase their chances to successfully integrate into Israeli society.

  

The report also states that speeding up the immigration rate could stem the number of non-Jews seeking to emigrate with the Falash Mura, or the Jewish-Ethopian community in Addis Ababa.

 

“We should try to close the camps in Ethiopia in order to prevent the emigration of non-Jews and to complete the emigration process for true Falash Mura,” the report said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.15.05, 14:05
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