The government approved a plan submitted by Interior Minister Eli Yeshai to bring 20,000 members of the Falashmura to Israel from Ethiopia. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and the founding spiritual authority of the Shas party, has written that the Falashmura currently waiting to immigrate to Israel are in fact Jewish and are therefore eligible to enter the country under the Law of Return. A committee has been formed of elements from the Interior, Education, Housing, and Finance Ministries, as well as the Jewish Agency, to oversee the program.