Ethiopian Jews in Israel

Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Total population
168,800 (2022)
About 2.3% of the Israeli Jewish population, about 1.75% of the total Israeli population
Languages
Hebrew · Amharic · Tigrinya ·
Religion
Haymanot and Rabbinic Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Falash Mura · Beta Abraham

Ethiopian Jews in Israel or Beta Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants from the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia. To a lesser extent, the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel also includes Falash Mura, a community of Beta Israel who had converted to Christianity over the course of the prior two centuries, but were permitted to immigrate to Israel upon returning to Israelite religionthis time largely to Rabbinic Judaism.

Most of the community made aliyah in two waves of mass immigration assisted by the Israeli government: Operation Moses (1984), and Operation Solomon (1991). Today, Israel is home to the largest Beta Israel community in the world, with about 168,800 citizens of Ethiopian descent in 2022, who mainly reside in southern and central Israel.