No Funding for Ethiopian Integration a 'Historic Mistake'

MK: No Funding for Ethiopian Integration a 'Historic Mistake'

Absorption Committee chairman, Likud MK Avraham Nagosa, blasts government for reneging on promises to Ethiopian community.

MK Avraham Nagosa (Likud), chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, warned on Sunday that excluding programs for Israel's Ethiopian community from the government's budget would be a "historic mistake."

"After the wave of demonstrations from members of the community, the Prime Minister established a ministerial committee, headed by myself, and here was a historic opportunity to deal with the integration of the community," Nagosa told Arutz Sheva.

"We were ordered to prepare plans," Nagosa continued, "but to date there is no mention of those plans in the budget books." 

"I had a week of urgent discussions on the subject. Finance Ministry officials claim they haven't received plans from the Prime Minister's Office. It would be a historic mistake if the train leaves the station without this." 

"I'm going to do it my style, but I have never given up and won't give up now," Nagosa added.

The MK noted his hope that the rest of the Ethiopian Jewish community would make aliyah to Israel in the coming year. 

"It's not a subject for dispute," he asserted. "A decision was made to bring all of our brother who remain in Ethiopia. This passed a Knesset vote without opposition and is now once again on the government's table."

source: israelnationalnews.com