Chief Rabbi Warns of Missionaries Infiltrating Israel Through Ethiopian Aliyah Initiatives

By Hamodia Staff

In a stark warning issued to the Aliyah Ministry, outgoing Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Harav David Lau condemned the infiltration of Christian missionaries through Ethiopian aliyah initiatives. In a letter, Rav Lau called for an immediate halt to dedicated aliyah projects for Ethiopia, noting that almost all eligible Ethiopian Jews had already immigrated to Israel.

Rabbi Lau expressed concern that these initiatives were being exploited by Christian missionaries seeking to convert Ethiopian Jews upon their arrival in Israel. Highlighting the issue, he pointed out that many Ethiopian Christians were immigrating under humanitarian family reunification, not meeting the criteria for aliyah under the Law of Return, which grants immigration rights to grandchildren or spouses of Jews.

Recent data from the Israeli Immigration Policy Center revealed that nearly two-thirds of Ethiopian immigrants between 2020 and 2022 identified as Christian, complicating the aliyah landscape and raising questions about the preservation of Jewish identity among new arrivals.

Emphasizing the historical context, Rabbi Lau distinguished between current waves of aliyah and the initial migrations of the Beta Israel community, who fiercely maintained their Jewish identity, and the Falash Mura, who had been historically coerced into Christianity.

Calling for equitable treatment in aliyah procedures, Rabbi Lau urged for a uniform approach to applicants from Ethiopia, aligning their eligibility criteria with global aliyah standards. He stressed that while the Ethiopian Jewish aliyah initiatives marked a significant milestone in Israeli immigration history, it was imperative to uphold the integrity of Jewish identity amidst evolving migration patterns.

Successive Israeli governments have debated ending the Ethiopian aliyah initiative. Some have suggested to end family reunification.

Over 4,000 people from camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa had filed requests for aliyah in August in the wake of worsening political and security conditions in Ethiopia.