ICEJ to assist Ethiopian Jews just rescued from fighting in Gondar
Rescued Jews

Published on: 11.8.2023
By: David Parsons, Vice President & Senior Spokesman
Israeli and Jewish Agency authorities acted swiftly on Thursday to rescue over 200 Israeli citizens and Ethiopian Jews from the raging conflict which erupted in Gondar this week. Among them are a group of 61 Ethiopian Jews already deemed eligible to immigrate to Israel, and JAFI has requested assistance from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem with their Aliyah flights to Israel as soon as their travel documents can be arranged.
Over the past week, heavy fighting broke out between the national armed forces and a regional militia in the Amhara region, in northern Ethiopia. The clashes engulfed the regional capital of Gondar, where thousands of Ethiopian Jews have been waiting for up to two decades for their turn to make Aliyah and be reunited with close relatives already in Israel.
Israeli officials were watching intently the rapidly unfolding events in Gondar, where a number of JAFI staff and volunteers were working among the Ethiopian Jewish community to care for their needs and process those applying to join family members in Israel. The fierce street battles forced everyone to remain in their homes, while the regional airport was shut down. But once the national army regained control of the city late Wednesday, the window opened to fly the Israeli volunteers and tourists and the eligible Ethiopian immigrants to safety in Addis Ababa.
Doron Almog, a former IDF general and the new JAFI chairman, has much experience with Israeli rescue missions in Africa, as he was a commander during the Entebbe raid which freed Israelis held hostage by the PLO in 1976, and also helped lead the secret “Operation Moses” emergency airlift of some 8,000 endangered Ethiopian Jews trapped in Sudan in 1984–1985.
This time, Almog was in touch with JAFI workers in Gondar throughout the week and learned that “all the streets were blocked, there was no food, no supplies, no water or electricity, and all the Israelis and Ethiopian Jews in the city were terrified due to the deteriorating situation.”
So, Almog consulted with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders to coordinate a rescue effort.
“In the last few days, citizens of Israel and [persons] entitled to make Aliyah from Ethiopia entered into distress in the battle zones. I ordered them to be taken out of there,” Netanyahu said in a press statement today.
The group of 61 Ethiopian Jews eligible for Aliyah will be taken care of by the Jewish Agency’s team in Addis Ababa until the necessary procedures are finalized and they board their flight to Israel. The ICEJ has been asked to help fund their Aliyah flights to Israel and absorption costs once in the Land.
Since the historic Ethiopian Aliyah was resumed by Israeli government decision in 2015, the Christian Embassy has sponsored Aliyah flights for 3,225 out of the 7,514 of the Jewish immigrants who have arrived from Ethiopia, including 375 so far this year.
We now have the opportunity to bring these latest Ethiopian Jews rescued from the fires of this latest surge in violence in the troubled East African country. Please consider your best gift to help bring them home to safety in Israel and join with us in being part of this ongoing historic rescue mission from Ethiopia!
ICEJ 將協助剛從貢德爾戰鬥中獲救的埃塞俄比亞猶太人
獲救的猶太人
發佈於：2023年8月11日
作者：大衛·帕森斯，副總裁兼高級發言人
以色列和猶太機構當局週四迅速採取行動，從本週貢德爾爆發的激烈衝突中營救了 200 多名以色列公民和埃塞俄比亞猶太人。 其中包括 61 名埃塞俄比亞猶太人，他們已被視為有資格移民到以色列，JAFI 已請求耶路撒冷國際基督徒大使館提供援助，以便在他們的旅行證件辦理完畢後儘快安排他們飛往以色列的 Aliyah 航班。
過去一周，埃塞俄比亞北部阿姆哈拉地區的國家武裝部隊和地區民兵之間爆發了激烈戰鬥。 衝突席捲了該地區首府貢德爾，數千名埃塞俄比亞猶太人在這裡等待了長達二十年的時間，等待他們回國並與已經在以色列的近親團聚。
以色列官員正在密切關注貢德爾迅速發生的事件，那裡的一些 JAFI 工作人員和志願者正在埃塞俄比亞猶太社區中工作，照顧他們的需求並處理那些申請與以色列家庭成員團聚的申請。 激烈的巷戰迫使每個人都呆在家裡，而支線機場也被關閉。 但一旦國家軍隊週三晚間重新控制該市，以色列志願者和遊客以及符合條件的埃塞俄比亞移民飛往亞的斯亞貝巴安全的窗口就打開了。
前以色列國防軍將軍、新任JAFI 主席多倫·阿爾莫格(Doron Almog) 在以色列在非洲的救援任務中擁有豐富的經驗，因為他是1976 年恩德培突襲行動中的指揮官，該行動釋放了巴解組織扣押的以色列人，並幫助領導了“秘密行動”。1984 年至 1985 年，“摩西行動”緊急空運了約 8,000 名被困在蘇丹的瀕臨滅絕的埃塞​​俄比亞猶太人。
這一次，阿爾莫格在一周內與貢德爾的JAFI 工作人員保持聯繫，了解到“所有街道都被封鎖，沒有食物、沒有補給、沒有水或電，城裡所有的以色列人和埃塞俄比亞猶太人都感到恐懼”由於局勢惡化。”
因此，阿爾莫格與以色列總理內塔尼亞胡和其他以色列高級領導人協商，協調救援工作。
“在過去的幾天裡，以色列公民和有權從埃塞俄比亞返回家園的人在戰區陷入困境。 我命令將他們帶離那裡，”內塔尼亞胡今天在一份新聞聲明中說。
這批符合回歸資格的 61 名埃塞俄比亞猶太人將由位於亞的斯亞貝巴的猶太機構團隊負責照顧，直到完成必要的程序並登上飛往以色列的航班。 ICEJ 已被要求幫助資助他們飛往以色列的 Aliyah 航班以及抵達以色列後的吸收費用。
自2015年以色列政府決定恢復歷史性的埃塞俄比亞回歸以來，基督徒大使館已為從埃塞俄比亞抵達的7,514名猶太移民中的3,225人讚助了回歸航班，其中包括今年迄今的375人。
我們現在有機會把這些最新的埃塞俄比亞猶太人從這個陷入困境的東非國家最近暴力激增的大火中救出來。 請考慮您最好的禮物來幫助他們安全返回以色列，並與我們一起參與埃塞俄比亞正在進行的歷史性救援任務！