Sintayehu Shafrao is an extraordinary young man. Brought up in Addis Ababa, part of the tiny Jewish congregation there, his Jewish knowledge was good enough to compete in the final of the International Bible Quiz held in Jerusalem earlier this year. His arrival in Israel was not without controversy, though. He was given a visa only after depositing thousands of shekels to ensure his return to Ethiopia after the competition.

This, in spite of the fact that Sintayehu’s father already lives in Israel. This, in spite of the fact that the rest of his family is of Jewish extraction and that they, like the remaining 8,000 Beta Israel in Ethiopia, have been promised aliyah in the near future. 

No other foreign competitor at the Bible quiz was required to leave a deposit. Every other competitor, had they wanted to make aliyah, would have been greeted with open arms.  But not Sintayehu.

Is this racism? The status of the Jews left in Ethiopia remains uncertain, for they are the part of the community that had been converted to Christianity long ago. The reasons for their conversion were various, and not always genuine.  

For many, Christianity did not “take”. They continued to identify as Jews and the antisemitic Ethiopian population treated them as Jews. Over the last three decades many have returned fully to Judaism, observing Shabbat and festivals, worshipping daily in the synagogues in Addis and Gondar. 

The Israeli government agreed to bring those that could prove direct Jewish descent through the maternal line over to Israel and this was duly done, allowing the Agency to declare in August 2013 that all the Ethiopian Jews were now in Israel, leaving behind only “relatives of relatives of relatives”. They closed the synagogue in Gondar and took away the scrolls, evoking a huge protest in Israel and Ethiopia over the thousands left behind.  

These were descendants of Jewish men who had married Christian wives. Ethiopian Jewry has always followed the patrilineal principle and children throughout the country follow the religion of their father. This meant that Jewish women who married out of the faith may have brought to Israel halachically Jewish children, but they would have been brought up as Christians in Ethiopia, while the practising Jewish community — those with Jewish fathers — had been left behind.  

But, since all Ethiopians in recent years who have made aliyah have gone through a conversion process as part of their absorption programme, the status of their parents, should not really matter at all. 

Enter Avraham Neguise, Ethiopian activist and the only Ethiopian Member of Knesset. With fellow MK David Ansalem, he held Netanyahu’s 2015 government to ransom over the status of the remaining Beta Israel community. 

The Likud-led coalition had a majority of only two and Neguise and Ansalem refused to vote until a decision had been made. Thus, they extracted a promise in November 2015 that all the remaining Beta Israel would be brought to Israel, and last year Netanyahu declared that of the 9,300 that remained, all would be in Israel by the end of 2020.  But will that promise be kept?

While 1,300 Ethiopian Jews came to Israel last year, so far, this year, only one family has been accepted for aliyah. The reason given was budgetary. “There is not the money for aliyah,” they say — but the only reason there is no money, is because the budget committee would not discuss the allocation of a budget for the work. It seems that a number of ministers of the government simply do not approve and will do everything they can to hold up the process.  

In June this year, a letter signed by Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Ethiopian rabbis was sent to the government, urging a speedy end to the situation. On July 8 a letter signed by 70 of the 120 Members of Knesset was sent to the Prime Minister. Each week, there are demonstrations outside the home of the Interior Minister. There are threats of hunger strike both in Israel and in Ethiopia.  

This seems to be having an effect and the government have promised to bring another 1,000 individuals by the end of the year. But for Avraham Neguise, this is not enough. All those still waiting in Ethiopia have relatives living in Israel. Most have first degree relatives — parents, children, or siblings. The longer they stay in Ethiopia, the more people there will be who have a claim. The birth rate is high; there will be more marriages and more children and before long the number will rise to 9,000 again. 

The longer they stay in Ethiopia, the longer it will be before the Ethiopian community is fully integrated into Israeli society. Yet another generation will arrive with inadequate education, with inappropriate skills. There is no sense in causing delay; the issue will not go away.

For Sintayehu Shafrao, the story has a happy ending. He was given leave to remain in Israel and recently his mother and siblings came to join him — the one Ethiopian family reunited in Israel so far this year. May the rest join them soon. Speedily and in our days.

Rabbi Sheridan chairs the charity Meketa, which supports Ethiopian Jewry