The Israeli government has approved the immigration of 2,000 Ethiopian Jews, a quarter of the approximately 8,000 members of the community waiting to make the move. 

The Falashmura have not been able to claim automatic citizenship under the country’s Law of Return due to their historic background. 

Despite being descended from the Beta Israel – a community of Jews that settled in Ethiopia – many were converted to Christianity in the 1800s by European missionaries. They have since returned to practising Judaism, but some question their faith. 

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef – a former Sephardi chief rabbi for Israel and founder of the Shas party – declared in 2002 that the Falashmura had converted out of fear and persecution and therefore should be considered Jews. 

However, when the immigration of 1,000 Falashmura was approved in 2018, Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich was quoted saying: “This practice will develop into a demand to bring more and more family members not included in the Law of Return. It will open the door to an endless extension of a family chain from all over the world.” 

Thousands remain in camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa. 

Israel’s Ethiopian-born Immigration Minister under the unity government, Pnina Tamano-Shata, tweeted that she felt “very happy and excited”. 

The rest of the Ethiopian Jewish community were largely brought to Israel through a series of covert missions, including Operation Solomon – which saw 35 flights transport 14,325 Ethiopian Jews in 36 hours.