Rabbi Achiad Ettinger of the synagogue in the Shapira neighborhood of Tel Aviv warned on Wednesday against intermarriage between Eriterans and Jews.

“Over the last two years this phenomenon has grown to enormous dimensions. We are standing, G-d forbid, before a great wave of assimilation,” he told Arutz Sheva, adding, “These are the children of the first wave of illegals who came to Israel, these children study in the public schools. They live with our children, speak the same language, wear the same clothes and even the slang is the same. We see them walking around the parks on Saturdays and the way to relationships that will lead to marriage is short.”