Jan 1, 2021
300 Jews arrive from Ethiopia on New Year’s Eve, with more expected Sunday from the Bnei Menashe community of northeastern India.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
A group 300 new immigrants from Ethiopia landed Thursday night at Ben Gurion Airport and a small group of Jews from India are set to arrive Sunday as 2021 kicks off with aliyah by Jews from some of the lost tribes of Israel.
“It makes me happy to open the year 2021 in this way,” said Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano Shata, who was on hand to greet the new immigrants.
Shata herself was born in the Ethiopian province of Gondor, where a large part of the Jewish community was located. She arrivedin Israel in 1984 as part of Operation Moses that brought thousands successfully to Israel, but was cut short when Arab countries found out about it. Shata is the first black woman to be elected to the Knesset and be appointed a cabinet minister.