About 9,000 Ethiopian Jews want the Israeli Government to repatriate them to their land of origin.

The Falashas, as they are popularly known, claim they were suffering because the Israeli Government had neglected them.

Speaking in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the representatives of the Falashas said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reneged on  its promise to make possible their repatriation.

According to the Falasha representatives, Israeli Government had promised to airlift all Ethiopian born Jews to their ancestral land. However, it reneged on the promise after only a few hundred had been repatriated.

Opposition camp

Mr Netanyahu, the community representatives said, was a strong advocate for the Falashas’ rights when he was in opposition camp, but forgot about them on becoming Prime Minister last year.

Mr Sisay Birhan, the Israel community chairman in Ethiopia, told the Africa Review in Addis Ababa that more than 8,700 Falashas were waiting to rejoin  their kin through the help of Israeli Government.

Israel Knesset (parliament) had a heated debate on the issue on Monday and told Mr Netanyahu to deal with the matter.

Israeli authorities said that budget constraints forced them to halt the repatriation. However, there was no clear time table on the resumption of the repatriation.

Eight years ago, Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel turned violent and protested after media revelations that blood donated by community members was secretly removed from the banks and thrown away.