The High Court of Justice has ordered a freeze on plans to bring thousands of Ethiopian Falash Mura to Israel as it reviews a petition against the move.
The petition by an NGO, the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, asserts that members of the community are not Jews and thus do not deserve immigration rights.
Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, a member of the Ethiopian community herself, laments the decision, and says members of the Falash Mura are experiencing growing danger “with every day that passes.”
The Falash Mura are Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity, often under duress, generations ago. Some 30,000 of them have immigrated to Israel since 1997, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Because the Interior Ministry does not consider the Falash Mura to be Jewish, they cannot immigrate under the Law of Return, and therefore must get special permission from the government to move to Israel.
Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 15, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
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