Jews, Ethiopian

The Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, are a Jewish group originating in the Amhara and Tigray regions of northern Ethiopia, where they historically inhabited more than 500 small villages. The majority are concentrated in what is today North Gondar Zone, Shire Inda Selassie, Welkait, Tselemti, Dembia, Segelt, Qwara Province, and Belesa. Since their official recognition as Jewish under Israel's Law of Return, most of the Beta Israel have made aliyah from Ethiopia to Israel through several Israeli government initiatives starting in 1979. The history behind the ethnogenesis of the Beta Israel is a matter of dispute. They appear to have been lastingly isolated from broader Jewish communities, having historically practiced a divergent, non-Talmudic form of Judaism, known as Haymanot, that is similar in some respects to Karaite Judaism. Genetic studies show them to cluster closely with non-Jewish Amharas and Tigrayans, with no indications of maternal gene flow with Yemenite Jews in spite of their geographic proximity. The community suffered extensive destruction in the 19th century due to the Mahdist War, as well as persecution by the Ethiopian Empire. In response to these pressures, and influenced by the efforts of Protestant and Messianic Jewish missionaries, a portion of the community converted to Christianity. These converts became known as the Falash Mura. The Beta Abraham community is considered by some to be a crypto-Judaic branch of the Beta Israel. The Beta Israel first made extensive contact with other Jewish communities in the early 20th century, after which a comprehensive rabbinic debate ensued over whether they are to be considered Jewish. Following halakhic and constitutional discussions, Israeli authorities decided in 1977 that the Beta Israel qualified on all fronts for the Israeli Law of Return. Thus, the Israeli government, with support from the United States, began a large-scale effort to conduct transport operations and bring the Beta Israel to Israel in multiple waves. These activities included Operation Banyarwanda, Operation Brothers, which evacuated the Beta Israel community in Sudan between 1979 and 1990 (including Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Joshua in 1985), and Operation Solomon in 1991. At the end of 2019, there were 155,300 Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Approximately 87,500 were born in Ethiopia, and 67,800 were born in Israel to Ethiopian-born parents. The community in Israel is mostly composed of Beta Israel (practicing both Haymanot and Rabbinic Judaism), but also includes smaller numbers of Falash Mura who left Christianity and began practicing Rabbinic Judaism following their immigration to the country.