The Israeli government on Tuesday approved a 214 million shekel ($58 million) plan to improve Ethiopian immigrants’ position in the Jewish state, lawmaker Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionism Party) said.
The decision to extend the “New Way” plan for integrating Ethiopian Jews for two additional years was led by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, alongside Solomon, himself an immigrant who made his way to the Jewish state in 1983.
“Today is an important and exciting day for me, as well as for the entire Ethiopian community, which forms a significant part of my mission in the Knesset,” the Israeli lawmaker wrote in a post on social media.
According to Solomon, the budget covers “all areas of life and the optimal integration of Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society,” including in “education, culture, welfare, employment, national security, national missions and health.”
The Religious Zionism Party member noted that 34 out of the 893 Israel Defense Forces soldiers who fell in action since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre that sparked the current war were of Ethiopian descent.
Ethiopian Jewry’s journey to the Land of Israel “is studied and serves as an inspiration to the entire Jewish people—a community that chose and continues to integrate into all aspects of life, every day,” wrote Solomon.
“I appeal to you, members of the community: Take part and lead Israeli society to a better place. Use the tools and budgets for your benefit,” the lawmaker’s post concluded.
Beginning in 1984, some 6,000 Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel through Sudan as part of “Operation Moses,” which ran until 1985. Six years later, 14,000 Ethiopians were flown directly to the Jewish state during “Operation Solomon"—the largest airlift in Israeli history.
More than three decades later, the Ethiopian community in Israel has 170,000-plus members, some of them at the forefront of Israeli society.
