Following the High Court’s decision to resume Operation Create Israel, which aims to assist the immigration of 3,000 first-degree relatives, two flights landed from Ethiopia with some 340 people on board. In addition, five absorption centers have been established that will provide guidance to immigrants.
Many of the immigrants have been waiting for some two decades to arrive in the country while remaining sunk in deep poverty. “This is about saving Jewish lives” explained Immigration and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata.
And she adds “These Jewish families in Ethiopia suffer without even having food to eat at home as they wait for many years to immigrate to Israel and arrive with absolutely nothing.”
To date, the Jewish Agency has brought more than 40,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Some were carried out as part of covert operations, such as “Operation Moshe”, which was carried out in the years 1984-1985, and some in open operations, such as “Operation Solomon” in 1991 and Operation “Wings of pigeon”, made in the years 2012-2013.
The approximately 160,000 Ethiopian Israelis living in the country today represent a mere 2% of the total Israeli population.
“Operation Moses” – the first operation to help Ethiopian Jews reach Israel
In the 1970s, news of the plight of the Jews in Ethiopia reached Israel. In addition to drought and famine, the Jews suffered severe persecution; Jews were prohibited from observing the laws of the Jewish religion, children as young as 12 were conscripted into the army, and Jewish community leaders were accused of spying for Israel.
The Israeli government decided to rescue the Ethiopian Jews and bring them to Israel, and the implementation of the decision was very complicated, both due to the geographical distance and the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Ethiopian regime, so it was decided that they should cross the border with Sudan from where they would be regrouped and finally transferred to Israel, first in boats and then in planes.
Most Ethiopian Jews lived in villages and to reach Sudan they had to walk hundreds of kilometers on foot, under the guidance of local guides who drove them for a fee.
For days and weeks they marched in a difficult and dangerous way for men and women, old and young. They walked mostly at night, and during the day they hid from the scorching sun and also from the police, the army and bandits from bandits. Many of them were not able to put up with the difficult journey and died along the way from hunger, weakness or disease. There were also people took by surprise on the road by soldiers or thieves, arrested or killed.
Ethiopian Jews had to leave behind all their possessions, and even when they arrived in Sudan, they had to wait in refugee camps until they were transferred to Israel.
In the years leading up to “Operation Moshe”, some 5,000 immigrants from Ethiopia immigrated to Israel in various ways. During Operation Moses (1984 – 1985), some 7,000 immigrants from Ethiopia immigrated to Israel.
Six years later, due to an ongoing civil war in Ethiopia, another operation was decided: “Operation Solomon”; During it, more than 14,000 immigrants immigrated to Israel.
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“Operation Solomon“
Following the fall of Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Marim, rebel forces were poised to surround the capital, Addis Ababa, where a camp of Jews hoped to emigrate to Israel. The Israeli government, mediated by the United States, reached an agreement with the Ethiopian ruler and the rebels that allowed the expulsion of more than 14,000 Jews from Ethiopia in 34 hours.
“Operation Solomon” was an air rescue operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews where between May 24 and 25, 1991 some 14,000 Jews were flown to Israel on planes from El Al, the IDF and Ethiopian airlines in an incredible coordination of the IDF, the Jewish Agency, the JDC and the Mossad.
Especially challenging was the government’s task of accommodating in one night, in hotels and absorption centers across the country, all the Jews who arrived in Israel.
It was a large-scale operation unprecedented in the history of the State of Israel.
Our response to the need
Our City Of Life ministry considers our help to the Ethiopian immigrant community in Sderot and the border region with Gaza to be of the utmost importance, to which we provide our support and maintain constant monitoring of their needs, considering the best way to assist them in order to make it more bearable their integration into the land of their ancestors.
One of the families we are privileged to support is Galit’s family, who came to the country (Aliyah) 4 years ago with no money or property, facing many hardships as they start their new lives.
Adaptation is not easy at all and constitutes a long process in which they are still going through. Learning a new culture, language and being able to get a job is a challenge for them. For many years Galit had to work a hard job at night while she took care of her 5 children during the day.
Her husband was psychologically affected by the great change that his new life meant that he could not take anymore with the situation, leaving his home for half a year, leaving Galit alone with her children.
He recently returned to her family with regret and is trying to get by with low-paying jobs while Galit had to leave his job due to serious physical problems and back pain caused by the great effort of working long night hours in recent years.
In this difficult situation in which this family finds itself, they depend on the help that our ministry provides them with our variety of projects, as well as providing them with moral support, showing them the great love that the Lord has for them and filling their hearts with hope, consolation and peace.
On each visit we can see how in their faces they express joy and gratitude for our patient care and let us know that they feel a little more appreciated having us in the midst of the hard life they experience in this region of Israel.
Our role as the body of the Messiah is to bring hope to this lost world and illuminate in times of darkness creating an impact on society, so our ministry is committed to reaching as many people as possible who suffer, who many of them depend on our commitment and dedication for the work of the Lord.
You too can bless them and be part of this commitment of obedience to the Lord with us by joining in our goal as there are still many families to reach with the help and together we can achieve it.
You can be part of and impact the lives of more people who need help in our city and together show them the way, the truth and the life.
We invite you to be part of our ministry so that together we can bring hope to our border town of Sderot.
Our work would not be possible without the help of partners like you, that is why we ask you to consider in prayer the possibility of a monthly commitment that will allow us to continue with the Lord’s work here in Israel.
Sincerely yours
Pastors
Michael & Dina Beener
“City of Life”
Social Outreach Center and Messianic congregation
Sderot, Israel.
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