A ceremony was held on Mount Herzl on Wednesday, Yom Yerushalayim, in memory of members of the Ethiopian Jewish community who died on their journey home to Israel.

Following is an excerpt from the comments made at the state ceremony by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“I also know that the hardships did not disappear even upon your arrival in the land. Some of you are still dealing with absorption pains in the country and, at the same time, are paving a way for the young people who were born here, Ethiopian sabras. I have no doubt that time will work its own. As the years pass, the difficulties will fade and the intolerable and reprehensible displays of racism and discrimination will also disappear. We will fight them together and we will defeat them until nothing remains. It is important to me that you know that we are attentive to your feelings, your pain and your aspirations. We are enacting many initiatives to advance Ethiopian Jews, by as much as much as possible, in all aspects of life: Social welfare, housing, education, equal opportunities, concern for your religious leaders, integrating your children in the school system; everybody must learn together, all Israeli children must be together. There is no position in the state that you cannot fill and you are already doing so with great success — in the IDF, the universities, the Knesset, the public sector, the foreign service, everywhere.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)