All of the remaining Jews in Ethiopia should be in Israel within six months, the chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives predicted Monday.
Simcha Dinitz told the WZO Executive that arrivals from Addis Ababa have been proceeding at a rate of 100 to 150 a week since the massive Operation Solomon airlift brought more than 14,000 Ethiopian olim to Israel last May 24-25.
Jewish Agency emissaries are active in the Gondar region, where the last Jewish community in Ethiopia lives, trying to organize their departure, he said.
Dinitz also said the recent agreement between El Al and Aeroflot for direct flights from Soviet cities to Israel would result in a better-organized flow of Soviet immigrants.
He said there is nothing to prevent other airlines from organizing similar services.
That may have been intended as encouragement to Israeli businessman Ya’acov Nimrodi, who launched a direct service called Aerolicht two weeks ago, using aircraft chartered from Aeroflot.
The Jewish Agency had initially expressed reservations over the venture, which ran into difficulties at the outset.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
