The Invention and Decline of Israeliness by Kimmerling Baruch;

Author:Kimmerling, Baruch;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of California Press

THE ETHIOPIANS

The Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel are at almost at the other end of the spectrum from the immigrants from the USSR and CIS as far as their social characteristics and position in the system are concerned. Known as the “Beta Israel” or “Falashas,”42 this group is relatively small, numbering only about 75,000, but its members are very conspicuous because of the deep-seated differences between them and the rest of the population and the low level of skills and meager human capital with which they arrived. The Ethiopians were brought to Israel in two dramatic “secret” operations—Operation Moses and Operation Solomon. Prior to Operation Moses, however, beginning mainly in 1977, about 6,000 Ethiopian immigrants (most of them from the Tigre region) had arrived in a sporadic and unorganized fashion. From the 1950s to 1977, only about 300 Ethiopians had arrived. In the framework of Operation Moses (1984-85), 7,000 Ethiopians were brought in by way of Sudan, and in between these two operations, another 11,000 immigrated to Israel. Also in the framework of Operation Solomon (in May 1991, toward the conclusion of the Ethiopian civil war), 14,300 Ethiopians were brought to Israel, and by the end of 1996, an additional 10,000 had been added. In addition, more than 12,000 Ethiopians have now been born in Israel, while about 1,000 have died there. As will be seen, there are significant differences in composition and qualities between the different waves of immigration (or operations).

The admission of these new dark-skinned Israelis, nowadays termed “Ethiopian Jews,” was another step in the pluralization of the Israeli social system. Their appearance as a social category (and not only as individuals) transforms Israel into an even more varied society from an ethnic and national perspective and introduces into the system an additional social variable beyond the other societal hierarchies and boundaries—one that is almost insurmountable—the race boundary and color hierarchy.43

Acceptance of the Falashas as Jews was not self-evident, and in spite of two halachic verdicts that recognized their Judaism in principle, they were still required to undergo a ritual ceremony of conversion. Even today, their individual personal status is subject to the rulings of Orthodox rabbis who are recognized as experts and as authorized to rule on their issues, while their religious leaders (qessotch) are not recognized for the purposes of performing marriage, divorce, and burial. Although they are defined as Jews as a group, according to the Law of Return,44 the Jewishness of every individual remains in question, “because according to the opinion of the rabbinate there is a question of a mixture of a minority of non-Jews in this Jewish tribe.”45 Originally, they were required to convert according to the strictest standards, including phlebotomy (symbolic circumcision) and immersion. Some of the people of the first wave (mainly those that came from the Tigre region) agreed to all the severe conditions of the Israeli rabbinate. Others (those from the Gondar region) were opposed to doing so and saw the demand for conversion as debasement and racism.

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