Washington Jewish Week
President Bush gave Ethiopian Jewry leaders his personal commitment to help an estimated 17,000 Jews hoping to leave Ethiopia for Israel, according to Rachamim Elazar, chairman of the National Association of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.
In the first meeting between a U.S. president and an Ethiopian Jew, Bush told Elazar on Monday that he would consider a variety of political efforts to assist the Jews in leaving.
“I reminded him of his personal involvement in Operation Moses,” said Elazar. “That work has not been finished. I urged him to seek ways that he could get the other Ethiopian Jews out.
“He gave us his word that he is willing to do something about it,” Elazar said.
Bush previously met with Ethiopian Jews during a trip to Israel when he was vice president, but this is his first meeting with Ethiopian Jewry leaders in the White House.
“We were delighted by the president’s concern for Jews remaining in Ethiopia,” said Jon Cohen, special representative of the American Association for Ethiopian Jewry, who attended the Oval Office meeting with Bush.
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