January 17, 2011 / 12 Shvat 5771 

The first olim of 2011 landed in Israel today on a special charter flight arranged by the Jewish Agency. 

Over the next two days, 340 Jews from the Falash Mura denomination in Ethiopia will arrive in Israel.  The temporary halt in aliyah from Ethiopia to Israel at the end of November due to an aviation dispute between Israel and Ethiopia was settled this past Friday, January 14, 2011, in an agreement reached between the Governments of Israel and Ethiopia.  As a result, the Jewish Agency immediately charted two special flights from Ethiopian Airlines to faciliate the aliyah of nearly 340 olim who had already been processed.

Beginning in February, the Jewish Agency will facilitate the immigration of nearly 8,000 Falash Mura whose Aliyah was approved last month. By the end of January, the Jewish Agency will have completed the task of bringing all 3,000 Falash Mura to Israel approved by the Olmert administration.

The additional olim approved by the Netanyahu administration will come to Israel at the rate of 200 people per month over a period of four years. In April, the Jewish Agency will assume responsibility for the transition camps currently housing the Falash Mura in Gondar, Ethiopia, and will provide them the kind of services offered at Absorption Centers in Israel, including Hebrew and Judaic Studies classes.

"This Aliyah marks the beginning of the historic culmination of efforts to bring the Falash Mura – the last of the 'Seeds of Israel' – to Israel, the historic homeland of the Jewish people," said Eli Cohen, Director of the Jewish Agency's Immigration and Absorption Department.