Interior Minister Eli Yishai is renewing aliyah from Ethiopia. The minister is dispatching to emissaries to Ethiopia to compile lists of eligible candidates to come to Eretz Yisrael, the daily Yediot Achronot reports.

In 2008, the government agreed to check into the eligibility of 3,000 Falashmura requesting to come to Eretz Yisrael. While the treasury sought to remove the aliyah from Ethiopia from the Ordinance Law, Yishai explained Shas would only support the law if the issue of the Ethiopian aliyah remained a reality, insisting clauses removing Ethiopian aliyah from the government agenda be removed.

According to the report, in addition to the 3,000 applicants, Yishai is going to seek government approval to inquire into the legitimacy of requests from an additional 5,000 Falashmura.

Yishai explains that here in Israel, many families are suffering due to the fact that the families have been split, with some members here and some remaining back in Ethiopia. “One’s skin color is not a precondition for aliyah” he stated.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)