JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

ethiopia
the Apostles (8:27–28) and Ethiopian monks and pilgrims are
referred to in early pilgrim records. In 1172, in the crusader
kingdom of Jerusalem, they possessed altars in the holy places,
in the vicinity of which they had established monasteries. Under
the Muslim rulers, after the downfall of the crusader kingdom,
the Ethiopians obtained more extensive rights. They are
mentioned in connection with the Church of the Tomb of the
Virgin, and the chapel of St. Mary of Egypt (14th century), and
as having chapels in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (15th
century). Toward the end of the 17th century, however, unable
to meet the exactions of the Turkish pashas, they lost most of
their holdings in the Holy Sepulcher. From an early date until
the beginning of the 19th century, the Ethiopians had important
rights in the Deir el-Sultan Monastery near the Holy Sepulcher,
which have since been claimed by the Coptic Church.
The Ethiopians were left with hovels on the roof of the chapel
of St. Helena which is part of the church of the Holy Sepulcher.
In the New City of Jerusalem there is an Ethiopian church with
an adjoining monastery. There are also two monasteries in the
Old City and one on the western bank of the Jordan River.
Relations with Israel
Direct contacts between Ethiopia and the yishuv started in
1936, when Emperor Haile Selassie, his family, and officers
found refuge in Jerusalem after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia.
The emperor lived there for about one year, but numerous
Ethiopian notables spent the whole period of their exile in Palestine.
During World War II, a number of Jewish soldiers from
Palestine served with the British forces in the reconquest of
Ethiopia, both under the command of Orde *Wingate, whose
personal ADC during the Ethiopian campaign was a Palestinian
Jewish officer, and in the regular East-African Command,
particularly in the commando units that fought in Eritrea. After
his return to Addis Ababa the emperor called a number
of Palestinian Jews to serve in various capacities within the
Ethiopian government. The first beginnings of economic ties
between the two countries also developed at that time. Palestinian-manufactured
goods reached Ethiopia, and some Jewish
experts worked in Ethiopia.
From 1948
Ethiopia abstained in the crucial UN vote on Nov. 29, 1947
on the partition of Palestine, in view of her cautious line of
neutrality in most of her dealings with the problems of the
Middle East. In 1948 Ethiopia extended only de facto recognition
to Israel; however, it continued to maintain its consulate
general in West Jerusalem, thereby maintaining close contacts
with Israel. In 1955, when an Israeli mission took part in
Haile Selassie’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in Addis Ababa, an
agreement was reached to establish an Israeli consulate general
in Addis Ababa, which began to function in the summer
of 1956. In September 1961 Ethiopia extended de jure recognition
to Israel and diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level
were established.
In international forums, Ethiopia maintained her traditional
neutrality in the Arab-Israel conflict; repeatedly refused
to join anti-Israel initiatives; and tried to urge reconciliation,
negotiations, and peace, often in the face of an opposite stand
adopted by the Afro-Asian and nonaligned groups in which
Ethiopia became an ever more active member. The formal
relations between the two countries steadily normalized and
bilateral relations began to reflect the relatively close geographical
proximity of the two countries. Numerous personalities
of both countries paid mutual official and semi-official
visits. In 1960 the Empress Menem went on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem. In the same year the Israel minister of agriculture,
Moshe *Dayan, paid an official visit to Ethiopia. Israel’s foreign
minister, Golda Meir, visited Addis Ababa in 1962, and
her successor Abba *Eban visited there. It was particularly in
economic and technical cooperation, however, that mutual
ties found expression.
With the opening of the Straits of Tiran to unhampered
Israel shipping and the recognition of the Gulf of Akaba as an
international waterway following the Sinai Campaign of 1956,
Eilat and Massawa, and later on also Assab and Djibouti, became
major ports of call for the ships of both nations. With the
introduction of more modern ships, the time required for the
trip from Eilat to Massawa steadily decreased, so that by 1970
this run was made in just over 48 hours. In 1970 a regular air
link between Lydda and Addis Ababa was inaugurated by El
Al Airlines, cutting flying time between Israel and Ethiopia to
just over three hours. Commerce between the two countries
developed steadily, with Israel selling mainly manufactured
goods and buying primary products from Ethiopia. Economic
cooperation between the two countries started early in the
1950s with the establishment of an Israeli meat-packing plant
in Asmara, but it received particular impetus in the 1960s. A
large Ethiopian-Israel cotton farm exists in the Awash Valley,
an Ethiopian-Israel pharmaceutical plant in Addis Ababa, and
a number of other enterprises. During the 1960s Israeli experts
served in various fields in Ethiopia, from public transportation
through fishing and agriculture to Ethiopian geological
surveys. Numerous Ethiopian students studied in various institutions
in Israel in widely diverse fields, e.g., agriculture
and communications.
Cultural ties occupy a special place in the relations between
the two countries, particularly those between the institutions
of higher learning. In 1959 the Haifa Technion entered
into close relations with the Engineering College in Addis
Ababa, which later became part of the Haile Selassie I University,
in which Israeli professors subsequently served. In 1970
an agreement was reached between the Haile Selassie I University
and the Hebrew University for the joint development
of a microbiology institute in Addis Ababa. Close collaboration
existed also in medicine, town planning, water development,
and related fields.
[Hanan Bar-On]
Starting in the 1960s Israel was a major supplier of military
aid to Ethiopia, which continued even after Ethiopia broke
off diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973 in the wake of the
538 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6