For generations, in the highlands of East Africa between the Blue Nile basin and the Red Sea world, Ethiopian Jews observed Shabbat, preserved ancient biblical traditions, prayed toward Jerusalem, dreamed of returning to Zion, and sometimes died attempting to reach it.
During the annual holy day of Sigd, Beta Israel prayed for a return to Zion and renewed its covenant with God and the Torah. In 1862, a Beta Israel group led by the spiritual leader Abba Mahari attempted to reach Jerusalem decades before Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State.
We did not need European Zionism to teach us to long for Jerusalem because Zion lived in our prayers before modern political Zionism acquired a congress, a flag, or a diplomatic office.
Yet now that we have reached the Jewish state, served in its military, joined its religious institutions, and voted for its political parties, we are still too often invited to demonstrate loyalty without being trusted to exercise power.
This history does not mean every Ethiopian Israeli holds the same political beliefs. No community is politically uniform. But it helps explain why many feel a natural affinity with religious Zionism and the Israeli right.
It has to do with a reverence for Jewish tradition, an attachment to Jerusalem, a belief in Jewish sovereignty, a respect for military service, and an understanding that Jewish survival requires strength.
On October 27, Israelis will democratically elect the 120 members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Israelis do not vote directly for congressional-style district representatives. They vote for national party lists, and parliamentary seats are distributed proportionally. The parties represent Jewish, Arab, religious, secular, liberal, and conservative constituencies.
A candidate’s position on a party list can therefore determine whether an internal-primary victory produces actual power.
That distinction explains why Ethiopian Israeli Gabi Gebre Worku’s victory matters. Worku entered the Likud’s 2026 primaries alongside ministers and lawmakers. He traveled, organized, addressed party members, and asked voters to judge his work.
In the direct contest for the position reserved for a new immigrant, he defeated six other candidates and received 3,159 votes. He won, but was then placed at No. 43.
That position is outside the Likud’s practical electoral range. Worku competed and prevailed. Leaving him at No. 43 would indicate to Ethiopian Likud members that their participation is welcome, but their democratic decision is expendable.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should use one of his leadership-controlled positions or any remaining lawful mechanism to move Worku up so that he will be situated among the top 23 candidates.
This would not be charity or tokenism; it would respect a candidate who entered the Likud’s democratic process and won.
Another possibility has raised hope. An Israeli publication reported advanced discussions between Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Yaakov, an Ethiopian-Israeli right-wing strategist and Channel 14 panelist, about a possible reserved place on the party’s Knesset list.
Channel 14’s Bezalel Yaakov considers joining Ben-Gvir’s party
No final commitment has been confirmed. Yaakov represents a young, Hebrew-speaking and unapologetically Zionist Ethiopian generation. His inclusion would be encouraging. But hope must not again become a photograph, a campaign slogan, then silence once the final list is submitted.
Ethiopian Israeli representation in the Knesset is important. Nevertheless, none of us has led Israel at the highest levels or headed its mission to the United Nations, a consequential diplomatic appointment.
I have asked why Ethiopian Israelis are rarely invited to speak seriously about Israel, Zionism, or the Jewish future. Why has no qualified Ethiopian Israeli been seriously considered to become Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations?
During Danny Danon’s first term, from 2015 to 2020, he became the first Israeli elected to chair a principal UN committee, the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee on legal affairs. He began a second term in August 2024, making him the only Israeli to hold the ambassadorship twice. He has represented Israel and deserves recognition for his service.
In September 2025, the UN General Assembly endorsed a declaration on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 142 votes to 10. No single envoy alone controls such outcomes, and the UN’s institutional hostility toward Israel long predates Danon’s.
But that overwhelming margin demonstrates the limits and ineffectiveness of repeating the same strategy with the same political messengers.
After nearly seven years across two terms, Israel should prepare new leadership not because Danon’s service was worthless, but because forceful rebuttals alone and the current method have not reversed Israel’s diplomatic isolation.
I am not raising this issue only in the abstract. I would be honored and humbled to be considered to lead Israel’s mission to the United Nations.
I am a proud black African; an Ethiopian-born Israeli American Jew; a Modern Orthodox; a right-wing but inclusive educator; a student of the Baron Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; and a specialist in moral diplomacy, conflict resolution, and restorative justice.
I earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Yeshiva University and a master’s degree in community leadership and philanthropy from Hebrew University. I also spent two decades working in New York’s court system and have experience in Israeli and Ethiopian public affairs.
These qualifications do not entitle me to an ambassadorship. They do entitle other Ethiopian Israelis and I with comparable records to serious consideration.
A black Jew at the UN might achieve what others could not
I cannot promise to transform UN voting overnight. No honest diplomat can. But I would bring a broader moral-diplomacy strategy.
This would encompass cultivating relationships with African and other Global South delegations before a crisis erupts; engaging black, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish audiences; and explaining in English, Hebrew, and Amharic that the Jewish return to Israel was never exclusively European.
Imagine a black Ethiopian Jew, a descendant of an ancient East African Jewish community that prayed toward Jerusalem for centuries, addressing the UN General Assembly. That envoy would be more than a symbol. They would be living evidence against the accusation that Israel is a white colonial project.
Gabi Gebre Worku competed and won. Bezalel Yaakov may be approaching an opportunity. Qualified Ethiopian Israelis are prepared to serve and represent Israel internationally, including at the UN.
The writer is an international educator, community activist, and diplomacy expert. He has served in New York City as an Investigation Officer for the Supreme and Family Court, and represented the Israeli Knesset in international public affairs.