I CLOSE-UP

SAVING
ETHIOPIA
JEWS:
The
Final
Chapter?

News of a diplomatic agreement
between Israel and Ethiopia was
greeted as a timely miracle by
thousands of Ethiopian Jews in
Israel eagerly awaiting to be
reunited with loved ones.

LOUIS RAPOPORT

Special to The Jewish News

J

erusalem —Exactly
five years since the
Operation Moses res-
cue of some 10,000 Ethiopi-
an Jews from Sudanese ref-
ugee camps, Ethiopia has
announced the resumption
of diplomatic relations with
Israel, based on the under-
standing that thousands of
Ethiopian Jews will now be
allowed to reunite with their
families in the Jewish state.
The resumption of ties be-
tween the two countries has
important political and stra-
tegic consequences for the
entire Red Sea region, but
on a humanitarian and emo-
tional level, the emphasis
here this week was on the
fact that thousands of Ethi-
opian Jews here will be re-
united with their loved ones
left behind.
Although neither the Is-
raeli nor the Ethiopian gov-
ernment was willing to
comment on the timetable
for the expected mass im-
migration of most of the
15,000 to 18,000 "Falashas"
remaining in Ethiopia, in-
formed sources said that the
outflow will begin at a mo-
derate level, increasing
gradually and taking be-
tween 18 to 24 months to be
completed.
The 17,000-strong Ethio-
pian community in Israel
greeted the news with un-
restrained joy, since the
most serious problem they
have faced since coming to
Israel has been the pain and
anguish over being separ-
ated from their families.
They now have official word
that thousands of their chil-
dren, siblings, parents and
mates will be joining them
soon.
A top Ethiopian diplomat,
Kasa Kebede, personal ad-
viser to President Mengistu

ence at the Foreign Ministry
in Jerusalem on Monday
evening that "on the basis of
the constitution promul-
gated in Ethiopia [two years
ago] the government has ac-
cepted that the issue of
reunification of families
should be addressed prompt-
ly...There are Ethiopian
Jews who wish to come to
Israel to rejoin their families
— they are most welcome to
do so."
Kebede discounted re-
ports that the Jews would
start leaving on new, weekly
El Al flights from Tel Aviv
to Addis Ababa, and he also
would not comment on the
number of exit visas to be
granted. But he did say that
"we have discussed the
modalities" of the planned
mass emigration.
Over the weekend, For-
eign Minister Moshe Arens
said that the resumption of
ties "will help us to bring
Ethiopian Jews who remain
there to Israel," and ap-
parently, the "Jewish ques-
tion" was at the top of the
agenda in the two-year-long
talks between Ethiopian and
Israeli officials that led to

the renewal of ties. Accord-
ing to Kebede, "most of our
discussions have focused on
the issue.
Ethiopia scholar Haggai
Erlich of Tel Aviv Universi-
ty, an expert on Eritrea, was
among several commenta-
tors who believes it will now
be much easier to save Ethi-
opian Jews: "It's important
to all of us. It's a happy
moment, as without any
doubt Israel's primary con-
dition was family reunifica-
tion of Jews.' He added that
the historic move follows
upon the Soviet disen-
gagement from Ethiopia.
"The Ethiopians are looking
for a new foreign policy
stand," he said.
No Israeli or Ethiopian of-
ficial would comment on re-
ports that appeared in the
New York Times this week
of Israel agreeing to provide
military aid to Ethiopia. Is-
rael armed Ethiopia in the
1977-78 war against Somalia
in the Ogaden desert, but
large-scale support was cut
back because of disagree-
ment over the immigration
of Ethiopian Jews. In the
wake of the Soviet disen-

Haile Mariam and principal
architect of the rapproche-
ment, told a press confer-

Louis Rapoport is a jour-
nalist in Jerusalem and au-
thor of several books, in-
cluding "The Lost Jews:
Last of the Ethiopian
Falashas,'' and
"Redemption Song: The
Story of Operation Moses."
This article was made possi-
ble by a grant from The
Fund for Journalism on Jew-
ish Life, a project of the CRB
Foundation of Montreal,
Canada. Any views express-
ed are solely those of the au-
thor.

26 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1989

An Ethiopian Jew holds the Torah in the village of Uzaba.

