Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers — or were non-Jewish spouses of Jews. The number
of such people eventually reached 300,000. A few saw themselves as Christians, but the great
majority of them chose to identify as Jews and easily function as Jewish Israelis on a daily basis.
For the secular or non-Orthodox majority of Israelis, such distinctions are unimportant.
In addition, Israeli society is very much attuned to bypassing laws and formal procedures,
so in some individual cases theoretical restrictions are simply ignored, although this is hard to
do with marriage. Formally converting to Judaism would make the situation easier for those
from the former Soviet Union whose status is technically non-Jewish, but only about 5 per-
cent are interested in converting, since they already regard themselves as Jewish. They at-
tend Jewish schools, speak Hebrew, live according to the Jewish calendar, and celebrate Jewish
holidays.
The debate over conversion also involves a sub-debate between the dominant Orthodox
rabbinical establishment and minority Reform and Conservative Jewish rabbis who are not
allowed to supervise conversions in Israel. Many Orthodox rabbis have conditioned their ap-
proval for conversion on the candidates' willingness to pledge that they would continue a reli-
gious lifestyle. Almost all the Russian immigrants applying, however, are doing so in order to
live as fully Jewish secular citizens. More recently, a conversion process with far more lenient
guidelines than in the past has been set up and includes non-Orthodox rabbis among the
supervisors. All of these complex issues involve more theoretical discussion than practical im-
pact. But the debate on precisely how to handle these problems continues. They will probably
be resolved normally over time as the children and grandchildren of these immigrants become
fully integrated into Israeli society.
Immigrants from Ethiopia
Ethiopian immigrants are the newest group in Israeli society. Although they look different,
and they come from a very different society and culture, Israeli society has accepted them as
equal citizens with full rights. Israel recognized Ethiopian Jews — also known as Beta Israel,
their preferred term, or Falashas — as Jews in 1975. Threatened by political violence in their
isolated region of Ethiopia, Beta Israel began to migrate to refugee camps in Sudan in 1980.
Many died along the way. Then, secretly, Israel brought them from the camps to Israel. Sudan
was at war with Israel at the time, and any leak would have brought enormous Arab pressure
on the Sudanese government to stop the immigration.
By 1983, as many as 4,000 Ethiopian immigrants had arrived in Israel. With conditions
growing worse in Sudan and Ethiopia, Israel's government decided to speed up the immigra-
tion. Between November 1984 and January 1985, nearly 7,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted
to Israel in what became known as Operation Moses. After an agreement was reached with
Ethiopia, on May 24 -25, 1990, Israel arranged another airlift. In Operation Solomon, Israel
fl ew in 14,323 more. El Al passenger planes, C130 air force transports, and rented airliners from
other countries had their seats ripped out to maximize the number of passengers each fl ight
could bring. The excitement generated by the operation's size and smooth operation — seen as
an example of Zionism in action — and the thrill of providing a safe haven for endangered Jews
built strongly positive feelings toward the immigration.
