The source also said six other prospective immigrants to Israel, including at least one boy, were wounded but have since recovered. Their efforts to immigrate to Israel are more complicated and treated differently than those of Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors were not forcibly converted, known as Beta Israel. Non-Beta Israel Ethiopians are allowed to become Israeli only if they have relatives already in the country, under a government decree separate from the Law of Return for Jews and their relatives. But other Ethiopian Jews today dispute that this still applies to the Ethiopians waiting to immigrate today. In 2020, the government and the Jewish Agency launched an effort to bring to Israel a wave of 3,000 newcomers from the descendants’ community under an operation codenamed Zur Israel.

Source: Ethiopian News May 11, 2023 11:54 UTC