Ethiopian jews in israel

The most Zionist holiday, and the Jews Israel keeps waiting - opinion

For centuries, Beta Israel observed Shabbat and the purity laws in the villages of Gondar and Tigray, under heavy pressure to convert, and they kept trying to go home.

|ByMICHA DANZIG
Ethiopian Jews take part in Sigd celebrations, November 2025
Esti Ayalon Kovo

Esti Ayalon Kovo enters Knesset race to stop Jerusalem’s problems from spreading across Israel

Ayalon Kovo has joined up with B’Yachad in the 21st slot on its list, believing that only Naftali Bennett can help her achieve the necessary changes to the Jewish state.

|ByAARON REICH
MEMBERS OF the Ethiopian Israeli community protest outside the Knesset last year.

Israel must give Ethiopian Israelis a real seat at the table - starting at the UN - opinion

Imagine an African American Israeli representing the Jewish state at the UN. Wouldn’t that send a powerful, compelling message for all to see?

|BySHMUEL LEGESSE
Endalkew Yemani Tesma, shown here in Jerusalem on Aug. 14, 2023, faces the possibility of deportation.

Ethiopian asylum seekers in Israel face deportation after years without permanent status

Asked whether any of this had left him bitter toward Israel, one Ethiopian asylum seeker, who asked not to be named for fear of deportation, rejected the premise. “I don’t hate,” he said.

|ByTHEIA CHATELLE/JTA

COVID-19 restrictions threaten role of Ethiopian Jewish holiday in Israel

Sigd is being observed in a scaled-down fashion this year.

NOVEMBER 16, 2020ByTARA KAVALER/THE MEDIA LINE
AN ETHIOPIAN-ISRAELI spiritual leader participates in the main Sigd holiday prayer gathering at the Armon Hanatziv Promenade in Jerusalem last November.

Ethiopian Jewry's biblical texts are disappearing. TAU is saving them.

The students who have just begun their studies in the 2020-2021 academic year are all Ethiopian Israelis with Bachelor's degrees, who are eager to preserve and study their heritage.

OCTOBER 20, 2020ByHANNAH BROWN
Einalem Mengesto, who works at the Faitlovitch Collection.

Ethiopian-Israelis worry that airlift of loved ones won’t get off ground

Many call Netanyahu plan ‘campaign promise’ that highlights lack of serious immigration policy

OCTOBER 14, 2020ByTARA KAVALER/THE MEDIA LINE
Youth awaiting immigration to Israel practice social distancing outside the Hatikvah Synagogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The New Queen of Sheba: engendering an open heart

New tome tells the story of Ethiopian Jews through illustrations and narrative

OCTOBER 8, 2020ByNEVILLE TELLER
ISRAELIS OF Ethiopian descent commemorate counterparts who died during their immigration to the Jewish state, at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, 2016.

2,000 Jewish Ethiopians approved to make aliyah, who will be left behind?

Will their child/sibling/parent be included in the “coveted list” of 2,000 immigrants or will yet another year go by of unbearable longing?

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020ByALISA BODNER
MEMBERS OF the Falash Mura community attend morning prayer services in the synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia, in 2016.

Will a new plan to complete Falash Mura aliyah face obstacles? – analysis

So many plans and promises have been made on this issue that have not been fulfilled that the minister’s announcement has been met instead with skepticism that this could yet be another false dawn.

AUGUST 13, 2020ByJEREMY SHARON
Members of the Falash Mura Jewish Ethiopian community attend a prayer service at the HaTikvah Synagogue in Gondar, northern Ethiopia, September 30, 2016

Ethiopian Community Center is embroidering dreams

Few programs have taken into account the social and culture reality of the adult men among Ethiopian immigrants. A new program tries to change that.

AUGUST 12, 2020ByJUDITH SUDILOVSKY
Founded by Zion Getahun, now director of the Ethiopian Community Center in the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem, Embroidering Dreams has helped a group of older Ethiopian men regain their sense of self-worth and pride in their embroidery tradition

Canadian philanthropists launch scholarship for Ethiopian-Israelis

The goal of the initiative is to support a new generation of Ethiopian-Israeli leaders.

JULY 28, 2020ByCODY LEVINE
Mount Scopus campus, Hebrew University Jerusalem

Immigrants arrive in Israel from Ethiopia despite pandemic

They are among 400 Ethiopians who claim Jewish heritage who were approved for immigration three weeks before Israel’s March 2 election.

JULY 24, 2020ByMARCY OSTER/JTA
Ethiopian Jews say, "Next Year in Jerusalem"

34 Ethiopian Jews immigrate to Israel: 'Unite them with their families'

"It is time to place an end to the suffering of those waiting in transit camps in Ethiopia and to unite them with their families here in Israel."

JULY 23, 2020ByTZVI JOFFRE
Ethiopian immigrants arrive in Israel, July 23, 2020