THREE ETHIOPIAN JEWS FACE DEPORTATION
Dream of
After nine years, three Israeli-Ethiopian women lose their citizenship and
face deportation for joining a messianic group
By Aryeh Dayan
The fate of three young women from
Absorption authorities referred them to a caravan site in
. . .Their biological father was also Christian.
The women did not tell Israeli officials that the man with whom they came to
This non-disclosure was a fateful step. Had the teenage newcomers told
Israeli absorption authorities the truth, and been listed as the man's adopted
children, they would have avoided their future woes.
Today, they say that they didn't disclose this key fact, because it didn't
seem pertinent. "For as long as I can recall," one
said this week, "I remember my mother being with Vandprow."
She added "throughout my entire life, I related to him as my father, in
every sense of the word. "From their first day in
The three women received the results of this inquiry in a terse letter
signed by Rafael Cohen, an Interior Ministry official . . . Thus, Cohen
continued, "I've decided to revoke your immigrant permits, and the
citizenship which you received on the basis of forged documents, or fallacious
disclosures." The letter added: "You must leave
The last recourse for these three women is to beg for mercy at the doorstep
of the Interior Minister. "We came to
RESPONSE REQUESTED
Expulsion of Messianic believers from
When believers of Jewish descent immigrate to this Land, the application
form inquires about nationality and religion. Each applicant,
including Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) answer
with their utmost honesty about their identity. Typically, Messianic Jews
believe the most truthful answer in their hearts is that they remain Jews.
This, however, is in conflict with a Supreme Court decision (December 25,
1989), which states that Messianic Jews are not to be considered Jewish for the
purpose of the Law of Return. Therefore, the potential exists to assert that
all Messianic Jews that made application for citizenship during the last ten
years made a false declaration when they stated that they are Jewish. Under
this line of reasoning, therefore, the vast majority of all Messianic Jews who
immigrated during the last decade are legally vulnerable to revocation of
citizenship and expulsion from
The Interior Ministry certainly has the dry legal facts on their side, as
the High Court affirmed in their decision. Nevertheless, for obvious
humanitarian reasons, it would seem to be a cruel application of
"justice" to force the consequences on three young women, two of whom
were still minors at the time of their aliyah and
none of whom were capable at that point of understanding the legal fine points
of their civil status. There is no indication from the court's decision of any
intentional deception on their part and therefore no reason to find that they
made a false declaration, which would justify revoking their citizenship. It
would be more reasonable to believe that they followed the instructions of
their father and even that he or someone else filled out the applications for
the minors at the time, if not for all of the women. For all intents and
purposes, all three of these women have fully integrated into Israeli society
over the past 9 years and there is no reason to consider these women persona
non grata, except for their association with a
Messianic community.
It is precisely here, with the Interior Ministry's witch-hunt after
Messianic believers, that the infringement of basic human rights is involved, a
"witch-hunt" unfortunately sanctioned by the Supreme Court. For the
selective enforcement of the law (because of a person's religious affiliations),
however correct in precise legal terms that enforcement might be, is a
fundamental violation of Israel's Declaration of Independence which guarantees
that the State of Israel "will uphold the full social and political
equality of all its citizens without distinction of race creed or sex; will
guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture...."
This technically correct legal decision may well provide the break in the
dike necessary to begin wholesale revocations of citizenship and expulsions of
other "undesirables" who have all the proper
Jewish lineage but who have also aligned themselves with the despised and
rejected Messianic "sect." Certainly, the religious activists both
inside and outside the Interior Ministry intend to take the maximum advantage
of this legal precedent to press their attacks against the Messianic Jewish
community generally.
We need action and now. There is every reason to believe that once these
girls leave