JERUSALEM: Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants demonstrated outside Israel’s parliament on Monday, demanding the government fulfill a pledge to bring some 8,000 of their countrymen remaining in Ethiopia to Israel.
Israel’s government agreed in 2015 to bring the remaining Ethiopians to Israel but it has not authorized funding for their move.
Most of the stranded Ethiopians have close relatives in Israel. Although the families have Jewish roots, Israel doesn’t consider them Jewish, meaning they need government approval to immigrate.
“I have two sisters in Ethiopia still waiting for 13 years... (Our) mother is crying day and night, let’s stop this pain,” Sefi Bililin said at the protest Monday.
Her family is one of hundreds that have been split between Israel and Ethiopia over what they say is an inconsistent immigration policy. Many accuse the state of discriminating against the Ethiopian minority, and fear the 2019 budget will fall short.
Alisa Bodner, spokeswoman for the protesters, said Tuesday the families have had enough and feel “their lives are worth just as much as any other lives here in Israel.”
Israel clandestinely airlifted thousands of Ethiopian Jews from the country in the 1980s and 1990s, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the ancient community to the Jewish state and help them integrate.
About 140,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel today, a small minority in a country of over 8 million. But their assimilation hasn’t been smooth, with many arriving without a modern education and then falling into unemployment and poverty.
Ethiopian immigrants protest outside Israel’s parliament
Ethiopian immigrants protest outside Israel’s parliament
Israeli settlers establish illegal outpost near Palestinian Authority’s administrative city of Ramallah
- Settlers establish site on ruins of displaced Palestinian family’s home
- Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May attempts by settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in West Bank
LONDON: Israeli settlers have established a new outpost on land belonging to Palestinians east of Ramallah, the administrative city of the Palestinian Authority.
The settlers have established the outpost on the ruins of a home belonging to a Palestinian family that was forcibly displaced nearly a year ago following a series of attacks in the village of Al-Taybeh, the Palestine News Agency reported.
Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law and have long been viewed as hindrances to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and to achieving peace.
The PA’s affiliated Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May on attempts by Israeli settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in the West Bank, mainly on agricultural and pastoral land.
These outposts are distributed across several governorates, including six in Ramallah and Al-Bireh; two in Salfit, Tubas, and Bethlehem; and one each in Jericho and Nablus.
Israel defense ministry says arms exports hit all time high in 2024
- “Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024,” the ministry said
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defense agreements,” the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel’s defense industries, said in a statement.
Suspected crypto kidnappings mastermind arrested in Morocco
- France thanks Morocco for arresting 24-year-old after kidnappings targeting French crypto entrepreneurs
PARIS: France’s justice minister on Wednesday said that Morocco had arrested a man suspected of ordering a series of kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs in France.
“I sincerely thank Morocco for this arrest, which demonstrates excellent judicial cooperation between our two countries, particularly in the fight against organized crime,” Gerald Darmanin said on X.
Turkiye’s AJet to start flights to Syria’s Damascus
- AJet said flights from Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16
- Flights to Damascus from Ankara will start from Jun. 17
ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.
AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16. Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added.
Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from Jun. 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.
Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.
Turkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country’s reconstruction. Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria’s airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.
UAE president meets Egypt’s Sisi in Abu Dhabi
DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met his counterpart Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
El-Sisi, who is on a visit to the UAE, arrived at the presidential airport and was received by the UAE leader along with a number of senior officials.
