In 2000-2002, The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, in cooperation with local authorities, established neighborhood centers in 10 cities with large concentrations of Ethiopian-Israelis. The role of the centers is to coordinate municipal care and promote the development of services and programs for these immigrants, while increasing cooperation among various agencies, pooling resources and fostering community involvement.
To provide a perspective on the situation of these immigrants, and to learn about their needs in a variety of areas, surveys of all Ethiopian-Israeli households in the relevant neighborhoods were conducted at the initiative of the Ministry of Absorption in eight out of the 10 cities: Netanya, Rehovot, Yavne, Hadera, Afula, Ramla, Ashdod and Lod. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the families from August 2000 to July 2003. The interviews were conducted either in Amharic or Hebrew, according to the family’s preference. A detailed report has been published on each of the cities (available in Hebrew). In total, information was gathered from 2,956 families, comprising 14,968 people, including 7,673 children under 18. Thus, the findings not only provide input for planning local intervention programs, but also can be used as a basis for planning national policy, including the Ethiopian National Plan.
This report presents selected data on the overall community of Ethiopian-Israelis in the eight cities, on the following topics: household composition; participation of children and youth in formal and informal education frameworks, and the participation of adults in post-secondary education frameworks; the level of Hebrew proficiency among adults and their wish to improve it; employment status among adults; participation by adults in vocational training; needs for assistance in integrating into employment; the housing situation and relationships with neighbors who are not Ethiopian; the situation of the elderly; community activism; economic well-being; and problems faced by the families. Finally, the report presents major directions for action that arise from the data.
The data analysis compares various sub-groups according to age, gender, length of residence in Israel, and one- versus two-parent families among and within the eight cities. The wealth of data collected in these surveys enables us to present a comprehensive picture of the situation of the Ethiopian-Israeli community and can help in understanding trends in their integration in Israel.
Citations in the professional and academic literature
Dinisman, T. (2016). Life satisfaction in the transition from care to adulthood: The contribution of readiness to leave care and social support. Child & Family Social Work, 21(4), 401-411.
Guttman, N., Gesser-Edelsburg, A., & Aycheh, S. (2013). Communicating health rights to disadvantaged populations: Challenges in developing a culture-centered approach for ethiopian immigrants in Israel. Health communication, 28(6), 546-556.
Lipman, R. (2006). The Limits of Jewish Identity: Jewish Attitudes to the Black Jews of Ethiopia in 19/20th Century Europe and Contemporary Israel. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom).