Ethiopian Jews in the Israeli 1999 Knesseth elections
New Ethiopian list focuses on education Ha’aretz Friday, January 29, 1999
"Our children are educated in a colonialist system that does not prepare them to compete in the future job market like every Israeli child. Israel does not prepare our children to be doctors and engineers, but hewers of wood and bearers of water," complained Ephraim Yonah yesterday, who is the interim head of the independent Tikvah list of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. The list, which has not yet formally registered as a party, was organized two years ago. According to Yonah, the party's goals focus on education, housing and the special absorption problems of Ethiopian immigrants. MK Addisu Messele, the Ethiopian representative on the Labor Party list, said yesterday that Yonah is virtually unknown.
Ethiopian "Tikvah Party" Israel Wire Sunday, January 31, 1999 5:21
(IsraelWire-1/31-04:57-IST) Ephraim Yonah, of the new Tikvah Party, stated that he and his colleagues will work to improve the plight of members of the Ethiopian community in Israel, quoting statistics from recent reports indicating a higher than average drop out and truancy rates from schools among Ethiopian immigrants. The persons on the list stated they intend to work to improve the plight of their community in Israel and deal with sorely ignored social issues such as housing and adjustment to life in Israel.
Labor Celebration Marred by MK's Outburst Israel Wire Wednesday, February 17, 1999 7:08
(IsraelWire- 2/17) Labor Party MK Adisu Massala, a member of Israel's Ethiopian community, did not refrain from speaking his mind when the results of the party's primary elections were announced on Tuesday night. Massala accused the Labor Party of racism and said it was an embarrassment that the only Ethiopian lawmaker in the country was just left out in the cold.
Following his attacks against the party leadership and Ehud Barak, Barak has ordered a recount of the votes.
Massala told participants of the central committee that he was not putting his rejection in the party elections to rest, and he planned to meet with his attorney and appeal to the courts to correct the injustice done to him.
According to party leader Barak, during the afternoon hours, Massala was informed that he had won the 19th spot but when the results were made public, that spot was won by Sofa Landver, who was representative of the immigrant vote.
Massala insisted that there was foul play and he was unwilling to accept the results.
Barak assured Massala, central committee members and the public that there was no wrongdoing but insisted there would be a recount to eliminate and doubts that may remain.
After convention fiasco, Labor turns on Messele Ha’aretz Thursday, February 18, 1999
Likud quick to use the affair in campaign attacks on Barak
By Yossi Verter and Yerah Tal, Ha'aretz Correspondents
A day after Addisu Messele lost his slot on Labor's Knesset list and lashed out at party leaders on live television, accusing them of racism and possibly seriously damaging the party's chances in the May 17 elections, Labor went on the offensive yesterday. Party officials accused Messele of "hooliganism," racism against Russian immigrants and failing to understand the meaning of democracy.
Meanwhile, the Likud was quick to take advantage of the fuss, and as of today will include in its campaign ads attacks on Labor and Ehud Barak for "looking down at the Ethiopians" and "splitting the people."
One ad written in response to Tuesday's Labor convention says: "Barak is too weak to unite the people - A person who cannot even unite his own party is definitely unable of uniting the people," while another reads: "Labor is splitting the people - attacking the settlers, looking down at the Ethiopians, hurting the Sephardim, inciting against the ultra-Orthodox, turning its back on the Arabs."
But Labor officials insisted yesterday that if anyone acted in a racist manner it was Messele himself. The officials noted that MK Sofa Landver, who ended up winning the new immigrants slot, and Svetlana Alexandrov who competed against her, together received some 24,000 votes - 10,000 more than Messele received. The officials also accused Messele of showing up at the party convention with two Likud supporters who cursed and went wild. Messele's spokesman denied the allegations.
Representatives of the Teldor computer company and heads of Labor's primaries committee went over the vote count yesterday and ruled that nothing untoward had occurred. Labor leaders offered Messele to recount the votes in front of his very eyes, but he turned down the offer.
Barak's kibbutz helps Landver
With all of the votes counted, Messele's 14,796 votes fell short of the 16,536 garnered by Sofa Landver. Her ranking was also helped by her membership in two "minorities" - women, and Russian immigrants - giving her the 19th slot on the list. Messele got the 39th slot, too low to have a realistic chance of winning a seat in the 15th Knesset.
Analyzing the vote count, Labor officials said yesterday that Messele had been consistently in the lead over Landver from the beginning of the count and until 6:18 A.M on the following morning. The balance shifted in Landver's favor in the vote at Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon, Ehud Barak's native kibbutz. From then on, the margin of her lead kept widening as results poured in from areas with large concentrations of Russian immigrants. When the counting was concluded, at 8:52 A.M., Landver had about 2,000 votes more than Messele.
Mismanagement and bad luck
These figures, released yesterday, only serve to highlight the extent of Labor's mismanagement, and sheer bad luck. The last figures were given to the media by the election committee at 6:15 A.M. Tuesday morning, based on a report prepared 45 minutes earlier and putting Messele in the lead. At that exact time, Landver passed Messele in the race. Had Labor given the media another report, say half an hour later, it would have become known that Landver had taken the lead, and the fiasco would probably have been averted.
But the party decided to cut off the flow of information "so as not to spoil the evening convention," in the words of the election committee chair. Even though the count was completed around 9 A.M., publication of the results was put off until evening. Thus, Messele only learned that he had lost his Knesset seat several hours before the opening of the evening session, after being convinced throughout the day that his place was guaranteed. According to senior Labor officials, the time left until the meeting opened was just enough for Messele to organize his men to come in and ruin the show of unity.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday took advantage of the affair by inviting Likud members of Ethiopian origin to a press conference he convened at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters. Netanyahu said at the press conference that the Likud's regulations would soon be changed to give Ethiopian immigrants special representation in all the party's institutions. Netanyahu also announced the forming of a joint Likud forum of Ethiopian and Russian immigrants.
The daily list of instructions issued by the prime minister to Likud ministers and MKs also called on them yesterday to use Messele's defeat in the Labor primaries to attack Labor and Barak and accuse them of deliberately harming the Ethiopians and other population groups, such as the ultra-Orthodox, settlers and Sephardic Jews
Yisrael b'Aliyah puts 2 Ethiopians in top 10 Ha’aretz Friday, February 19, 1999
By Anat Cygielman, Ha'aretz Correspondent
In the contest for Yisrael b'Aliyah's Knesset list, all of the current party MKs who ran won top slots, and while two Ethiopians made it into the list, they won positions considered unrealistic even by the party's most optimistic supporters.
Shlomo Mula, one of two Ethiopian contenders, explained that in Yisrael b'Aliyah "we have no need for predesignated slotting on the candidates list for immigrants, because in this party everyone is an immigrant. In my previous jobs I realized how important it is for this party to be strong. People ask me, what am I doing in a Russian political party? My answer is: 'What difference does it make? All immigrants face the same kind of problems.'"
Mula said that in the wake of MK Addisu Messele's bitter disappointment over not having obtained a realistic spot on the Labor list, all of the Ethiopian votes could end up going to Yisrael b'Aliyah.
In the party's internal elections yesterday, Mula's remarks were greeted with enthusiastic applause; however, neither he nor the other Ethiopian candidate, Avi Bitau (a party member for two and a half years) obtained realistic slots. The list's top four positions were won with only slight competition: party leader and Industry and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky, Yuli Edelstein, Roman Bronfman and Marina Solodkin.
The fifth slot fell to Genady Rieger, the party's former director-general, while the sixth and seventh positions went to Alex Tzinker, another founding member, and Natalya Yelinson respectively.
MK Yuri Stern defected from the party to join the new Russian immigrant party, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, formerly director-general of the Prime Minister's Office. The election process was conducted with noticeable decorum, with classical musplayed in the intervals between each voting round.
Shas Weighing an Ethiopian Delegate in a "Realistic" Slot Israel Wire Monday, February 22, 1999 17:18
(IsraelWire- 2/22) For the first time in its history, the ultra-Orthodox Shas Sephardic Party is considering placing an member of the Ethiopian community in a "realistic" position on the party roster.
The candidate whose name was mentioned in Rabbi Yosef Hadana, an ultra-Orthodox member of the Ethiopian community who was certified as a rabbi by Israel's Chief Rabbinate following his arriving from Ethiopia and studying in local yeshivot for many years.
Rabbi Hadana is considered to be a personal student of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Addisu Messele calls for Ethiopian party Ha'aretz Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Disgruntled Labor MK Addisu Messele yesterday called for the creation of an Ethiopian party. Speaking at a rally attended by hundreds of supporters, Messele claimed that Israel's parties ignore his ethnic group. Messele was bitterly disappointed at not attaining a realistic spot on Labor's list in the party's primaries last week. (Itim.
Adisu Massala Calls for Ethiopian Party Israel Wire Wednesday, February 24, 1999 8:29
(IsraelWire-2/24) Labor Party MK Adisu Massala, who failed to land a realistic position on the party roster for the upcoming election, has called for the establishment of an Ethiopian party.
Massala told supporters that the country continues to ignore the needs of him and his people and a party was needed to address the concerns of the Ethiopian community.
Massala appealed the results of the Labor Party primary election but was told the election was valid and allegations of wrongdoing were rejected by party officials.
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