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Following Operation Solomon, small waves of Ethiopian
immigrants called "Falasha Mura" continued
to immigrate to Israel. According to the Ethiopian Jewish
tradition, roughly 100 years ago, Christian missionaries
began attempting to convert Ethiopian Jews. The majority
spurned Christian advances and maintained their Jewish
faith. Others did convert, whether from belief or from
social and economic pressure. These last are the Falasha
Mura.
Over the years, large groups of Falasha Mura came from
the villages to compounds in Addis Ababa. Many of them
had family already living in Israel who have been applying
steady pressure upon the Israeli government to allow
them to immigrate. In the mid-1990's, the Ministry of
Absorption agreed to bring over those Falasha Mura with
immediate family members in Israel. This was not under
the "Law of Return" however, but under the
"Law of Family Reunification." In 1997, the
Netanyahu administration decided to stop immigration
of Falasha Mura after a final group of 4,000 immigrants.
Between 18,000 and 26,000 Falasha Mura remain in Ethiopia
today.
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