Published: 12 March 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
AFTER DAYS OF DESPAIR and uncertainty came some welcome news: the Israeli government would allow some 300 Ethiopians stranded in Gondar since early February to come to Israel.
Their flight to Tel Aviv had received special permission to take off, they were told, even though Ben-Gurion Airport had been shuttered during the latest coronavirus lockdown.
What had yet to be determined was who would cover the costs of bringing these new immigrants over.
After failing to get a firm commitment from its regular donors in the Jewish Diaspora, the Jewish Agency – the quasi-governmental organization responsible for aliyah – put in a call to its evangelical friends.
This proved to be a smart move: The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem agreed on the spot to hand over $US1,300 for each immigrant on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that landed in Israel on February 12.
Funding aliyah – the return of the Jews to their ancestral homeland – was once deemed a sacred cause for Jewish organizations in the Diaspora. But as Jewish philanthropy to Israel continues to dry up, and with it donations earmarked for aliyah, Christian groups are increasingly stepping into the void with undisguised energy and zeal.
“Christian Zionists,” as they like to refer to themselves, tend to be deeply devout and very conservative, and funding aliyah not only dovetails with their political agenda, but also with their religious beliefs.
FULL STORY How Christian evangelical money and biblical prophecy are driving immigration to Israel (Haaretz)
Photo: A group of French Jews making aliyah to Israel a few years ago (Gil Cohen-Magen)
