Ethiopian Pledge of Free Emigration Raises Doubt Among Groups Concerned

Israeli officials and Jewish groups working on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry have cast doubt on an Ethiopian government official’s claim that all Jews in his country are now free to leave for Israel.

Emigration had been averaging about 500 Ethiopian Jews per month until this summer, when it dropped suddenly and sharply. Only about 200 were permitted to leave from July through August and fewer than 200 left in September.

Meanwhile, the number of Ethiopian Jews stranded in the capital city of Addis Ababa reportedly has reached 22,000. Most left their homes in the northern province of Gondar with the expectation they would be allowed to emigrate.

Last week, Kassa Kebede, an Ethiopian government official who has held talks with Israeli officials, told The New York Times his country had agreed to resume the emigration flow. He said an accord had been reached with the Israeli government during talks last month.

But in Washington, an Israeli official said, “We have no knowledge of such an agreement between the two governments.”

“Lately, several high-level contacts between the two countries have tried to resolve some misunderstandings with regard to the Jewish immigration to Israel as part of family reunion and other pending bilateral issues,” the official said.

“We hope that those contacts will eventually bring satisfactory arrangements, which will remove all delay from the process of reuniting families.”

Abraham Bayer, director of international concerns for the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, also said he had been informed that “the Israeli government does not know of any such agreement with Ethiopia as having been concluded.”

‘REHASH OF OLD PROMISES’

“We have heard reports that the emigration rate is going to increase, but we have no information confirming those reports at this time,” said John Hall, country officer for Ethiopia at the State Department. “We’ll wait and see.”

William Recant, executive director of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, described the Ethiopian official’s announcement as a “rehash of old promises.”

But he added, “We have been led to believe that there will be a change and levels (of emigration) will return to the springtime numbers of 500 to 600 a month.”

Even if that turns out to be the case, it will not be sufficient. “At that rate,” he said, “it will take three years for all of them to emigrate.”

According to Barbara Ribakove Gordon, director of the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry, the 22,000 Jews in Addis Ababa are living in very difficult conditions. “They are living in hovels, without sanitation, water and heat,” she said.

Gordon said that efforts are being made to improve conditions. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee has improved medical care and distributed blankets, and the North American Conference has provided clothing for virtually every Jewish child in need.

(JTA correspondent David Friedman in Washington contributed to this report.)