(Ha'aretz) Mazal Mualem - The Israeli cabinet Sunday approved Interior Minister Eli Yishai's plan to immediately bring some 20,000 Falashmura from Ethiopia to Israel. The Falashmura are Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, while maintaining some Jewish traditions. In recent years, some 18,000 Falashmura have left homes in outlying regions of Ethiopia in anticipation of moving to Israel, and have rented mud huts near two compounds run by immigration activists in Addis Ababa, and in the northern city of Gondar. Itzik Sudri, a Shas spokesman, said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef had ruled that the Falashmura had converted to Christianity because of fear.
2003-02-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive