Bill to integrate Ethiopian Jews in civil service approved

Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimskidd

By RUTH EGLASH   The Jerusalem POST
12/21/2010 04:41
Only 782 Ethiopian Jews are employed as civil servants; Danon calls lack of representation "disgraceful."

Legislation aimed at increasing the representation of Ethiopian Jews employed in government offices was approved for its first reading in the plenum on Monday during a special session of the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee.

Around 120,000 Ethiopian immigrants and descendants of Ethiopian immigrants live in the country, constituting 1.53 percent of Israelis, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.