Will Israel Be Accepting of All?

Israel, like other countries in the world, is very diverse with people coming from all parts of the world and they bring their own language, culture and customs. Jews have immigrated from Russia, Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy, North Africa and so on. Israel just like anywhere else, with such diversity struggles accepting certain groups of people. In this case those people which are not the only one who experience this treatment but are the topic of choice are the Ethiopian Jews who derive from the North African region. The reason for this treatment is because the Ethiopian Jew is believed to be the last group of Jews from what we would consider the old world. This means they practice the ancient rituals of Moses and the five books of the Torah. Jews left the land and went Ethiopia in the 12^th century and returned to Israel in the 20^th century. In 1973 the Sephardic Chief Rabbi ruled that Ethiopian Jews were considered as real Jews and urged for them to be brought to Israel immediately (Rosenthal, 155). Yet all though the Sephardic chief Rabbi ruled them authentic, because Ethiopian Judaism is based on the Bible and not the Talmud, the Israeli rabbinic establishment is ambivalent about their full Jewishness (Rosenthal, 168). Ashkenazi Jews (Eastern European) make up the majority of Israeli Jews. They believe that the original form of Judaism is outdated thus not acknowledging them as full Jews for it. As a result, the Ethiopian Jews feel mistreated and left out from participation of being Israeli Jews.

The article published by The New York Times “Ethiopians unable to wed in Petah Tikva, whererabbis doubt their Jewishness,” shows another good example of extreme prejudicial and discrimination of the Ethiopians face. This article explains that Ethiopian Jews experience difficulty receiving marriage certificates and a lot Rabbis are rejecting them. The excuse that these Rabbis are giving when asked why the Ethiopians are being rejected is because according to them they are not “Jewish enough” and asked to go through Orthodox coversion to authenticate them. As we see in the case of Ethiopian Shaga even after following the orders of the rabbinate rejection remains and are asked to go somewhere else. The country’s chief rabbinate has stated it would look into this matter and conduct a “thorough investigation”. TAMAR PILEGGI article is reliable because she is specific in the things she provides such as the location. That which being Petah Takvah, she provides direct quotes from high positioned figures like Rabbi Chuck Davidson, and even weighs in on what the locals go through. Tamar also explains that complaints like this go as far back as 2014 and are not new.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hugging Druze Leader.

Another people who feel like their authenticity of being an Israeli is questioned are the Druze people. An article published by The Times of Israel, “Netanyahu Vows to Empower Druze: ‘You are part of us, weare part of you” provides adequate examples of the Druze experience. We can see that the Druze community is upset of the passing of the Jewish nation-state law , which enshrined Israel as the exclusive nation-state of the Jewish people. This makes them feel discriminated against and unnecessarily humiliated them and lessened their place in society. Since the law has passed, tens of thousands have expressed negativity against it as well and petitioning to have it repealed. Part of their frustration is because the Israeli government is willing to acknowledge them enough to be a part of the Israeli defense Force (IDF), however not enough to acknowledge them in the inclusion of their laws. But Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands that the Druze serve the IDF in high numbers and said in a statement: I view empowering the Druze population as very important. We have enacted policies of increased investment in Druze communities in order to minimize gaps and increase equal opportunity.” And that he has “put forward a proposal to anchor in separate legislation the status of the Druze and Circassians”. The article of TOI STAFF can be seen as positive toward Netanyahu’s acknowledgment of the Druze and his efforts to make Israel a better home for them. The article can also be seen as reliable as there are many accounts for what key figures have to say on this matter and quotes with exact wording of what they had said. He also gives statistics provided by the University of Kansas.