The Flashmob Boys On The Way Home | Israel today

A delegation led by Absorption Minister Tamano-Sheta and the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Herzog, will leave for Ethiopia • 2,000 immigrants are expected to arrive soon as part of Operation Tzur Israel

• Yitzhak Herzog and Pnina Temano-Sheta receive immigrants

  Photography: 

  Shlomi Amsalem, Archive

On the way home:

Minister of Absorption and Immigration, Pnina Tamanu-Sheta, and Jewish Agency Chairman Yitzhak Herzog are expected to take off for Ethiopia on Saturday evening, as part of preparations for Operation Tzur Israel, in which about 2,000 Flashmobers are expected to immigrate to camps in Addis Ababa and Gondar.

Israeli officials are currently working to expedite the immigration of those staying in the camps due to the deteriorating security and economic situation in Ethiopia.

Tamano-Sheta, who herself immigrated from Ethiopia when she was three, said ahead of her departure that "it is a great mission and privilege for me to bring home many who have been waiting for decades for the Jerusalem dream to come true."

Herzog added that the agency: "We expect to receive thousands of immigrants who will be reunited with their families after many years. The State of Israel must act to end the painful saga that has lasted for generations."

Temano-Shta went on to address the sensitive situation of immigrant communities in Ethiopia, while addressing the limitations of the corona.

"Unfortunately many in the waiting community live in difficult conditions and their aggravated condition due to the corona crisis. It excites me to connect families who have been separated for many years, and I intend to implement with all relevant parties the government decision as soon as possible. These days I also work and lead an outline for a real, quick and agile solution. I am generally waiting to return as a kosher to the country where I was born and left at the age of 3 in Operation Moshe, this time to carry out a first-rate national mission on behalf of the Israeli government.

"One of the goals I set for myself - ending the waiting saga"

"One of the national goals I set for myself as Minister of Aliyah and Absorption is to put an end to the saga of those waiting in Ethiopia, an injustice that cries out for decades and causes great separation of families and huge damage to souls longing to be reunited with their families. "Our government cannot fulfill and neglect our brothers and sisters who have been waiting in Ethiopia for years and years. This injustice that cries to heaven must come to an end and I will continue to act until the last one who waits comes to Israel and unites with his family under." "With the rise of immigrants from Ethiopia and around the world, we hope to reach the goal and forecast we set for 2020, which is 20,000 new immigrants."

Ethiopian Immigrants Accepted at Ben Gurion Airport // Credit: The Struggle to Immigrate Ethiopian Jews, Archive

Herzog also added: "This is an exciting moment. Jewish Agency workers expect to receive thousands of immigrants who will be reunited with their families after many years. The State of Israel must act to raise the rest of the waiters and end the painful saga that lasts for generations. The Jewish Agency accompanies the new immigrants." From Ethiopia and brings them to the absorption centers, which are spread throughout the country, and for two years has been absorbing them in the State of Israel in preparation for their integration. "

Political controversy, and doubt about Flashmob Jewry

As you may recall, about six months ago, a series of political and educational leaders, along with caseworkers and rabbis, formulated a new and first outline led by the organization "Inside", which aims to put an end to a painful issue that has not yet been resolved - the immigration of Ethiopian families to Israel.

This is against the background of a particularly difficult reality faced by the Flashmob members who have remained in the country in East Africa for more than two decades, many of them under severe pressure.

There was a sharp controversy regarding the degree of their Judaism - and as a result, the question of their eligibility for aliyah out of necessity of the Law of Return remained at issue.

At the same time, over the years the Israeli government has not had a clear policy and the clear tendency has been not to decide on this issue.