Ethiopian Jews in Israel or Beta Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants from the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia.[2][3][4] To a lesser extent, the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel also includes Falash Mura, a community of Beta Israel who had converted to Christianity over the course of the prior two centuries, but were permitted to immigrate to Israel upon returning to Israelite religion—this time largely to Rabbinic Judaism.[5][6]
Most of the community made aliyah in two waves of mass immigration assisted by the Israeli government: Operation Moses (1984), and Operation Solomon (1991).[7][8] Today, Israel is home to the largest Beta Israel community in the world, with about 168,800 citizens of Ethiopian descent in 2022, who mainly reside in southern and central Israel.[9]
Between 1963 and 1975, a relatively small group of Beta Israel moved to Israel. They were mainly men who had come to Israel on a tourist visa, and then remained in the country.
In 1973, Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, cited a rabbinic ruling of the Radbaz, Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, and two former Ashkenazic chief rabbis of Israel, Abraham Isaac Kook and Isaac Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, declaring the Beta Yisrael Jews according to Halachah. He said: "It is our duty to redeem them from assimilation, to hasten their immigration to Israel, to educate them in the spirit of our holy Torah and to make them partners in the building of our sacred land....I am certain that the government institutions and the Jewish Agency, as well as organizations in Israel and the Diaspora, will help us to the best of our ability in this holy task..., the Mitzvah of redeeming the souls of our people...for everyone who saves one soul in Israel, it is as though he had saved the whole world.[11] In 1974, Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren also ruled that the Ethiopian Jews are a part of the Jewish people and this had already been established by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.[12]
In April 1975, the Israeli government of Yitzhak Rabin officially accepted the Beta Israel as Jews for the purpose of the Law of Return (which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel).
From 1975 onwards, the majority of the Ethiopian Jews made aliyah under the 1950 Law of Return. Several undercover rescue missions were organized by activists and Mossad agents to get them out of Ethiopia.[13][14]
Third wave: (1975–1990)
Operation Brothers
Migration map of Beta Israel
November 1979 – 1983: Aliyah activists and agents in Sudan, including Ferede Aklum, urged the Beta Israel to come to Sudan where they would be taken to Israel via Europe. Jewish Ethiopian refugees from the Ethiopian Civil War in the mid-1970s began to arrive at the refugee camps in Sudan. Most Beta Israel came from Tigray, which was then controlled by the TPLF, which often escorted them to the Sudanese border.[15] Many chose to immigrate to Israel at this time to flee the civil war, the specter of famine during and after the war, and the hostility faced by Ethiopian Jews.[16] In 1981, the Jewish Defense League protested what it felt was "lack of action" in rescuing the Ethiopian Jews by taking over the main offices of HIAS in Manhattan.[17]
1983 – March 28, 1985: This immigration wave was in part motivated by word of mouth reports. In 1983, the governor of Gondar region, Major Melaku Teferra, was ousted as governor and his successor removed restrictions on travel.[18] Beta Israel began to arrive in large numbers and due to poor conditions in the camps, refugees began dying of disease and hunger. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 were Beta Israel.[19] In late 1984, the Sudanese government, following the intervention of the United States, allowed 7,200 Beta Israel to leave for Europe. They immediately flew from there to Israel. The first of two operations during this period was Operation Moses (original name: "The Lion of Judah's Cub"), which took place between November 20, 1984, and January 20, 1985, during which time 6,500 people immigrated to Israel. A few weeks later, the U.S. Air Force evacuated the 494 Beta Israel refugees remaining in Sudan to Israel in Operation Joshua. The second operation was mainly carried out due to the intervention and international pressure of the United States.[20]
1991 (Operation Solomon): In 1991, the political and economic stability of Ethiopia deteriorated as rebels mounted attacks against, and eventually controlled, the capital city of Addis Ababa. Worried about the fate of the Beta Israel during the transition period, the Israeli government, together with several private groups, secretly prepared escape plans. Over the course of 36 hours, a total of 34 El Alpassenger planes, with their seats removed to maximize passenger capacity, flew 14,325 Beta Israel directly to Israel. Dr. Rick Hodes, an American doctor working in Ethiopia, was the medical director for Operation Solomon.
1992–1999: In the years following Operation Solomon, smaller and more gradual waves of migration continued. These included the Qwara Beta Israel, a subgroup residing in the northwestern Ethiopian region of Qwara, many of whom had been previously left behind. With the assistance of the Jewish Agency and Israeli government, most members of this community were brought to Israel by the end of the decade.[21]
Falash Mura (1993–present)
1993–present: From 1993 onwards, an irregular emigration began of Falash Mura, which was and still is mainly subjected to political developments in Israel. These immigrants are required to convert from Christianity to Judaism.[22]
2018: In August 2018, the Netanyahu government vowed to bring in 1,000 Falasha Jews from Ethiopia.[23]
2019: In April 2019, an estimated 8,000 Falasha were waiting to leave Ethiopia.[24]
2020: On February 25, 2020, 43 Falasha arrived in Israel from Ethiopia.[25]
29 November 2020 - 12 July 2023: Operation Tzur Israel (Rock of Israel). The operation was implemented in two phases with the goal of facilitating the immigration of 5,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, most of whom had close relatives already living there. The first phase, which ran from 28 November 2020 until March 15, 2021, brought 2,000 Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. The second phase, which began on June 2, 2022, brought another 3,000 immigrants, and concluded on 12 July 2023.[26][27][28]
2021:
March 11: Operation Tzur Israel brings 300 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.[29]
March 15: The first phase of the operation concludes, with 2,000 immigrants brought to Israel.[30]
November 28: The Israeli government approves the resumption of immigration for the remainder of the community from Ethiopia.[31]
2022:
February 2: The Israeli Supreme Court issues an interim order halting the immigration of 3,000 Ethiopians with close relatives in Israel, while hearing an appeal alleging many of them had faked their claims of Jewish ancestry.[32]
June 1: Second phase of operation begins with an airlift of 181 immigrants.[34]
2023:
July 12: Operation Tzur Israel concludes with a final flight of 130 immigrants.[27]
2024: In response to a ruling from the Sahedrin calling on all Jews in galat to go up to Israel ,a letter of 30 December 2024 from rement of Jews in Sudan and Ethiopia who have declared their willingness to go up to Israel[35]
Beta Israel soldier in Nablus, 2006The entrance to Mevaseret Zion Absorption Center, 2010
The largest obstacle facing the Israeli Ethiopian Beta Israel community is likely the low level of formal education of the majority of immigrants, who lacked the necessary skills for a developed economy like Israel. Because of the rural nature of Ethiopia, illiteracy was widespread, although young people were better educated,. As a result, the incredibly abrupt transition from Ethiopian village life to Israel had a significant impact on their integration into Israeli society. On a number of important socioeconomic indicators, Israelis of Ethiopian descent rank below the general hebrew speaking.[37]
Due to those challenges, the Israeli government created several programs to better the Ethiopian Jews in Israel's socio-economic status and to narrow and close educational gaps.[38] One such program is the ministry of education's "New Way" program for integrating students of Ethiopian descent in the education system.
Among the key achievements of the program was the increase in bagrut eligibility rates among students of Ethiopian descent. In the 2023/4 school year, the percentage of 12th-grade students of Ethiopian descent taking matriculation exams was 93.4%, compared with 95.2% of the students in the Hebrew education system overall. In 2023/4, the rate of eligibility for Bagrut certificate among students of Ethiopian descent equaled the rate of eligibility among all Hebrew speakers for the first time, After a cumulative increase of 12.5% since 2017/18.[39][40]
In the 2022/3 school year, The rate of eligibility for bagrut that meets the threshold requirements of the universities among 12th grade students of Ethiopian descent is 59.2% compared to 76% in the Hebrew education system overall (excluding ultra-Orthodox supervision) and 51.3% in the Arab education sector. the percentage of students of Ethiopian descent eligible for a matriculation certificate that meets university entrance requirements has also been increasing in recent years, and the gap between them and the general Hebrew-speaking students has narrowed from 27 percentage points in 2016 to 17 in 2022/3.[41] this gap is still high in comparison to the gap in bagrut eligibility.
Between 2016/17 and 2022 The gap between students of Ethiopian descent and students in the general Hebrew education system in the Meitzav exam in Hebrew and reading decreases from 0.89 to 0.56 standard deviations in 8th grade and from 0.63 to 0.36 standard deviations in 5th grade.[42]
The number of students of Ethiopian origin studying at institutions of higher education has been increasing in recent years: from 3,194 in 2016/17 to 4,144 in 2023/24, an increase of 29.7%. In general, the student population increased by 3.9% – from 227,700 in 2016/17 to 235,500 in 2023/24. The percentage of women among Ethiopian students was higher than the corresponding percentage among the general Hebrew speaking student population .
In 2019 The net income per household among Israelis of Ethiopian descent amounted to 14,027 NIS compared to 17,779 NIS for all Jewish households and 11,810 NIS for Arab households.[37][43]
Ethiopian Beta Israel have gradually integrated into Israeli society in religious life, national and military service, education, and politics. Like other immigrant communities, they faced significant challenges in assimilating into a modern industrial nation. These included low formal education levels, disrupted traditional community hierarchies, racial prejudice, and halachic doubts over the Jewish status of groups like the Falash Mura. However, over successive generations, Ethiopian Israelis have made socioeconomic progress.[44][45]
Before the mass aliyot of the 1980s and 1990s, small groups of Beta Israel had already moved to Israel in the 1950s as part of educational exchanges, and in trickles in the following decades. After Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s 1973 halachic ruling, the Israeli government formally recognized them as eligible for aliyah under the Law of Return.[46]
In preparation for the absorption of tens of thousands, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption issued two detailed Master Plans: in 1985 (after Operation Moses) and 1991 (following Operation Solomon). These plans addressed housing, education, employment, and social services, but a strong assimilationist bias and inadequate cultural adaptation led to mixed outcomes.[47][48]
Employment-wise, most early immigrants came from rural subsistence economies and lacked job skills, but military service has since become a key vehicle for social advancement. IDF enlistment rates among Ethiopian Israelis are high-especially among Israeli-born youth, but disparities remain in educational outcomes and socioeconomic status.[49]
Involvement in politics
The first Ethiopian-born Knesset member to serve in the 14th Knesset was Addisu Masala, representing the Labor Party. He was previously a member of the Marxist Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party organization in Ethiopia, and in Israel he became a Knesset member in the 1996 elections.
The main language used for communication among Israeli citizens and amongst the Ethiopian Beta Israel in Israel is Modern Hebrew. The majority of the Beta Israel immigrants continue to speak in Amharic (primarily) and Tigrinya at home with their family members and friends. The Amharic language and the Tigrinya language are written in the Ge'ez script, originally developed for the Ge'ez language.
Relations with Ethiopia
Although some non-Jewish Ethiopians expressed bitterness towards Beta Israel emigration, [50] the Ethiopian Jews have maintained close cultural and historical ties with the broader Ethiopian society and traditions.[51]
The Ethiopian government is also an important ally of Israel internationally, with ongoing cooperation in diplomatic, security, and development fields. Israel frequently dispatches technical and humanitarian teams to assist development initiatives in Ethiopia.[52] Strategically, Israel “has always aspired to protect itself by means of a non-Arab belt that has included at various times Iran, Turkey, and Ethiopia",[53] forming a key part of its regional security doctrine.[52]
Demography
The following is a list of the most significant Beta Israel population centers in Israel, as of 2006:[54]
The city of Kiryat Malakhi has a large concentration of Ethiopian Beta Israel, with 17.3% of the town's population being members of the Beta Israel as of 2006. This proportion would slightly decline to 16% by 2019.[55][56] Southern towns, including Qiryat Gat, Kiryat Malakhi, Be'er Sheva, Yavne, Ashkelon, Rehovot, Kiryat Ekron, and Gedera have significant Ethiopian Jewish populations.[57]
Table - The Population of Ethiopian Origin at the End of 2022, in Main Localities
The following is a list of the most significant Beta Israel population centers in Israel in localities above 2,000 people, as of 2022, which account for 77.5% of the group's population.[9]
Population of Ethiopian origin out of total population (%)
National Total
9,662.0
168.8
1.7
Netanya
233.1
12.2
5.2
Be’er Sheva
214.2
10.3
4.8
Rishon LeZiyyon
260.5
9.6
3.7
Ashqelon
153.1
9.0
5.9
Petah Tikva
255.4
8.9
3.5
Rehovot
150.7
7.7
5.1
Ashdod
226.8
7.5
3.3
Qiryat Gat
64.4
7.5
11.6
Jerusalem
981.7
6.6
0.7
Hadera
103.0
6.2
6.0
Haifa
290.3
5.8
2.0
Bet Shemesh
154.7
4.6
3.0
Ramla
79.1
4.5
5.7
Lod
85.4
4.4
5.1
Afula
61.5
3.9
6.4
Qiryat Mal’akhi
25.7
3.9
15.1
Yavne
56.2
3.8
6.7
Tel Aviv-Yafo
474.5
2.7
0.6
Holon
198.0
2.7
1.3
Bat Yam
128.5
2.6
2.0
Netivot
46.4
2.3
5.0
Qiryat Yam
41.1
2.1
5.2
Safed
38.0
2.1
5.4
(1) Localities with 2,000 or more residents of Ethiopian origin
Population of Ethiopian Origin by District, 2022[9]
District
Ethiopian Israeli residents
% of total Ethiopian Israeli population
Central
62,361
36.9%
South
44,576
26.4%
Haifa
23,543
13.9%
North
12,235
7.3%
Jerusalem
11,800
7.0%
Tel Aviv
10,689
6.4%
West Bank*
3,461
2.1%
Total
166,845
100.0%
*Referred to as Judea & Samaria in the report.
Controversy
Discrimination claims
Men attending a demonstration against racism and discrimination, 2012
In May 2015, The Jewish Daily Forward described the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel as one that has "long complained of discrimination, racism, and poverty".[59] The absorption of Ethiopians in Israeli society represents an ambitious attempt to deny the significance of race.[60] Israeli authorities, aware of the situation of most African diaspora communities in other Western countries, hosted programs to avoid setting in patterns of discrimination.[60] The Ethiopian Beta Israel community's internal challenges have been complicated by perceived racist attitudes in some sectors of Israeli society and the establishment.[61]
In 2005, racism was alleged when the mayor of Or Yehuda refused to accept a large increase in Ethiopian immigrants due to fear of having the property of the town decrease in value or having an increase in crime.[62]
Demonstrations in Israel have occurred protesting the alleged racism against Ethiopian immigrants.[63]
Protests against police brutality
In April 2015, an Ethiopian IDF soldier was the victim of an unprovoked and allegedly racist attack by an Israeli policeman and the attack was caught on video. The soldier, Damas Pakedeh, was arrested and then released, after being accused of attacking the policeman. Pakadeh is an orphan who emigrated from Ethiopia with his siblings in 2008. He believes the incident was racially motivated, and that, if the video had not been taken, he would have been punished. Instead, the police officer and volunteer were suspended pending an investigation. Likud MK Avraham Neguise called on National Police Chief Yohanan Danino to prosecute the police officer and volunteer, saying they engaged in "a gross violation of the basic law of respecting others and their liberty by those who are supposed to protect us". The Jerusalem Post notes that in 2015, "there have been a series of reports in the Israeli press about alleged acts of police brutality against Ethiopian Israelis, with many in the community saying they are unfairly targeted and treated more harshly than other citizens".[64][65]
The incident of police brutality with Pakedeh and alleged brutality of officials from Israel's Administration of Border Crossings, Population, and Immigration with Walla Bayach, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, brought the Ethiopian community to protest. Hundreds of Ethiopians participated in protests the streets of Jerusalem on April 20, 2015, to decry what they view as "rampant racism" and violence in Israel directed at their community. Israel Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino met with representatives of the Israeli Ethiopian community that day following the recent violent incidents involving police officers and members of the community.[66] When over a thousand people protested police brutality against Ethiopians and dark-skinned Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced: "I strongly condemn the beating of the Ethiopian IDF soldier, and those responsible will be held accountable."[67] Following protests and demonstrations in Tel Aviv that resulted in violence, Netanyahu planned to meet with representatives of the Ethiopian community, including Pakado.
Large protests broke out in July 2019 after Solomon Teka, a young Ethiopian man, was shot and killed by an off-duty policy officer, in Kiryat Haim, Haifa, in northern Israel.[68][69]
Blood donations
On January 24, 1996, Ma'ariv newspaper revealed a Magen David Adom policy that drew heavy criticism in Israel and worldwide.[70][71][72] According to the policy, which was not brought to the attention of the Israeli Ministry of Health or donors, blood donations received from Ethiopian immigrants and their offspring were secretly disposed of. A later public inquiry traced this back to a misinterpretation of a 1984 instruction to mark blood donations from Ethiopian immigrants due to a relatively high prevalence of HBsAg, indicative of Hepatitis B infections, in blood samples taken from this population.[73]
The public outcry led to the establishment of a commission of inquiry headed by former Israeli president Yitzhak Navon. After several months, the committee published its conclusions, calling for a change in policy. The Committee did not find evidence of racism, although some researchers have contested this.[70][74][75]
On November 6, 2006, hundreds of Ethiopian protesters clashed with police while attempting to block the entrance to Jerusalem in the wake of the Israeli Health Ministry's decision to continue the MDA policy of disposing of donations from high-risk groups.[76]
To date, the MDA prohibits the use of blood donations from natives of sub-Saharan Africa, except South Africa, natives of Southeast Asia, natives of the Caribbean and natives of countries which have been widely affected by the AIDS epidemic, including donations from the natives of Ethiopia. Since 1991, all immigrants from Ethiopia undergo mandatory HIV screenings, regardless of their intention to donate blood.[77][78][79]
Birth control
On 8 December 2012, the Israeli Educational Television program Vacuum, hosted by Gal Gabbai, aired a report claiming that in 2004, female Ethiopian Jewish immigrants were coerced into receiving Depo‑Provera injections, being told it was a prerequisite for immigration and often misled to believe it was a vaccination rather than birth control in transit camps in Ethiopia.[80][81]
The practice was first reported in 2010 by Isha le'Isha (Hebrew: Woman to Woman), an Israeli women's rights organization. Hedva Eyal, the author of the report, stated: "We believe it is a method of reducing the number of births in a community that is black and mostly poor."[82]
Haaretz criticized international coverage of the issue, stating that although some Ethiopian Jewish women's procreational rights had been violated through medical malpractice, these effects would only last for three months, and that any claims of a state-sponsored sterilization were falsehoods warped by circular reporting.[83] The newspaper would also issue a correction to their earlier reporting on the story.[84]
A 2016 investigation into the claims of the 35 women found no evidence that forced birth control injections of Ethiopian Jews took place.[85] In a subsequent independent study, the decline in fertility rate was shown to be "the product of urbanization, improved educational opportunities, a later age of marriage and commencement of childbirth and an earlier age of cessation of childbearing."[86]
↑ Weil, S. 2016b “The Complexities of Conversion among the ‘Felesmura’”. In: Eloi Ficquet, Ahmed Hassen and Thomas Osmond (eds.), Movements in Ethiopia, Ethiopia in Movement: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa: French Center for Ethiopian Studies, Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University; Los Angeles: Tsehai Publishers, Vol. 1 pp.435-445.
↑ Weil, Shalva (2011). "Operation Solomon 20 Years On". International Relations and Security Network (ISN). Retrieved August 27, 2017.
↑ Weil, Shalva (2007). "Operation Solomon by Stephen Spector". Studies in Contemporary Jewry, an Annual. Vol.22. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp.341–343.
↑ Greenfeld, Yitzhak (2011). The Chief Rabbinate of the Land of Israel and the Jews of Ethiopia during the British Mandate. Haberman Institute for Literary Studies. pp. 191–198.
↑ Kaplan, Stephen (1988). "The Beta Israel and the Rabbinate: Law, Ritual and Politics". Social Science Information. 27 (3): 357–370. doi:10.1177/053901888027003004. S2CID144691315.
↑ Gerrit Jan Abbink, The Falashas In Ethiopia And Israel: The Problem of Ethnic Assimilation, Nijmegen, Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, 1984, p. 114
↑ Kaplan, Stephen (1988). "The Beta Israel and the Rabbinate: Law, Ritual and Politics". Social Science Information. 27 (3): 357–370. doi:10.1177/053901888027003004. S2CID144691315.
↑ Weiner, Justus Reid. "The Struggle for Ethiopian Jewry". *Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs*, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ Weil, S., 2016. "The Complexities of Conversion among the 'Felesmura'". In: Eloi Ficquet, Ahmed Hassen and Thomas Osmond (eds.), Movements in Ethiopia, Ethiopia in Movement: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. Addis Ababa: French Center for Ethiopian Studies, Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University; Los Angeles: Tsehai Publishers, Vol. 1 pp. 435–445. Link
↑ “THE ETHIOPIAN‑ISRAELI COMMUNITY” (updated Feb 2021). Federation of Jewish Agencies. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ Offer, Shira (2007). The Ethiopian community in Israel: Segregation and the creation of a racial cleavage. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ “Ethiopian‑Jewish community in Israel,” PMC (2016). Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ “Ethiopian Israelis,” Adva Center (2014), pp. 5–7. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ Fenster, T. (2005). “Ethnicity, Citizenship, Planning and Gender: the case of Ethiopian Jews.” Tel Aviv Univ. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ “Integration of Israelis of Ethiopian Origin in the IDF,” Knesset Research and Information Center (2010). Retrieved July 13, 2025.
↑ Lynfield, Ben. Israel in the Eye of the Hurricane, Mosaic Magazine, January 2014: “Israel actively and for a time quite successfully courted the three major non‑Arab countries: Ethiopia, Iran, and Turkey.”
1 2 Zisser, Ohad. Israel and the Arab World – Renewal of the Alliance of the Periphery, Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies, October 2019, p. 227.
1 2 Seeman, D (June 1999). "One people, one blood": public health, political violence, and HIV in an Ethiopian-Israeli setting". Cult Med Psychiatry. 23 (2): 159–195. doi:10.1023/A:1005439308374. PMID10451801. S2CID19608785.
↑ Gerald M. Oppenheimer, 'In the eye of the storm: The epidemiological construction of AIDS', pp. 267–300, in Elizabeth Fee and Daniel M. Fox, eds., 'AIDS: The Burdens of History', (University of California Press, 1988) ISBN978-0-520-06395-2
↑ Farmer P., 'AIDS and accusation. Haiti and the geography of blame', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992. ISBN978-0-520-08343-1 pp. 210–228
↑ Kaplan, Steven (2016). "Coercion and Control". International Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 10 (1&2): 35–50. JSTOR26554851. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
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