Unit 8: WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

MY FAMILY
THE BETA ISRAEL CURRICULUM

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

 Students should now read the following:

 The contributions of NGOs such as the AAEJ and the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ), which was established in 1982, cannot be overstated. Neither can the role of the Israeli government, which executed daring operations to secure these missions. As former Jewish Agency emissary Micha Feldman observes, “most of the work [in bringing members of the Beta Israel to Israel] was accomplished by the State of Israel itself, through its emissaries and its secret operations.”¹³⁷

 Working in partnership was not always easy. At times, significant tensions arose between the Israeli government’s agencies and the non-governmental agencies of organizations like AAEJ and NACOEJ. In the early days of activism, the NGOs had lobbied against the Israeli government and Jewish Agency, for not doing enough to help Ethiopian Jewry. Now, the NGOs decided to change tactics, spearheaded by activists like Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, who called for the “the AAEJ to work with, rather than against, the government of Israel [and] the Jewish Agency.”¹³⁸ The partnership between Israel and NGOs paid off: Each agency had something else to offer. Working more quietly than the AAEJ, the NACOEJ was able to secure the release of hundreds of Beta Israel through opportunities like direct invitations, work contracts, and college enrollment, to name a few. NACOEJ also began to operate programs in Israel to assist newly arrived Ethiopian Jews, particularly in financial assistance for higher education.¹³⁹

 After reading, students should be asked:

 Why do you think tensions arose between the Israeli government and organizations like AAEJ?