Cabinet approves plan to fly 400 Ethiopian Falash Mura to Israel

Ministers approve a plan to bring almost 400 Ethiopian Falash Mura to Israel in a measure that will allow them to reunite with family members already living in the country.

While it was initially reported that Israel was planning to fly members of the Falash Mura community from Addis Ababa and Gondar to the Jewish state before the March 2 elections, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declines to commit to that date, saying the government was working hard to bring them as soon as possible.

The Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago.

The cabinet approves the measure despite opposition from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit who, according to Hebrew media, argued in a legal opinion that the measure could be interpreted as a campaign ploy directed at Ethiopian Israelis just weeks before the election.

Mandelblit also criticized the lack of preparation that went into putting together the plan to bring the 398 Falash Mura to Israel, saying that an insufficient amount of data was provided regarding the number of applicants interested in coming to the Jewish state.

He took a similar stance regarding a measure separately approved by ministers today to establish a committee tasked with probing the police’s internal investigations unit. The attorney general argued that the move could be construed as the product of illegal political horse-trading.