Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the Shas Party, said Monday that any Ethiopian students who wish to do so are welcome to study at the Shas-sponsored Maayan Hachinuch institutions in the city, a spokesperson for the Rabbi said. The announcement came after a meeting between Rabbi Yosef and Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, where the two discussed the ongoing issue of where to place children of the families of Ethiopian immigrants in Petach Tikvah, in light of the refusal of several schools in the city to register them.
In a radio interview, Rabbi Amar said that it was essential for the children of Ethiopian immigrants to remain in religious institutions, because it was an essential part of the conversion process many of them, who are from the Falash Mura community, are undergoing. "Even if it were possible to allow these students to attend secular schools, the parents are not interested, because they want their children to receive a religious education," he said.