November 15, 2010 / 8 Kislev 5771

Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky:
This is a historic event, bringing the last of the seed of Israel from Ethiopia

On November 14th 2010, the Government of Israel decided to give the Jewish Agency responsibility for completing within three years the immigration of the Falash Mura currently residing in Gondar. The Jewish Agency will have exclusive responsibility for the transit camp in Gondar which was run up till now by the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.

The list of members of the Falash Mura community in the transit camp in Gondar waiting to be brought to Israel now stands at about 8,000 men, women and children. The Jewish Agency will allocate close to 30 million shekels to this cause. After all those eligible for aliyah are brought to Israel, the Jewish Agency will be responsible for closing the Gondar transit camp.

In the transit camp, the Jewish Agency will increase the educational activity among the community in the areas of Judaism, Hebrew instruction and other measures aimed at easing the process of absorption of the olim in Israel and helping them better integrate into Israel society.

Chairman of Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky said “this is a historic event, and I hope it will be the last of such historic events. Now that there is cooperation among all the organizations, we have the opportunity to proceed with determination and complete the aliyah of the last ‘seed of Israel’ from Ethiopia.”