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Short answer
The claim that Israel forcibly sterilized Ethiopian immigrants is false.
It stems from a January 2013 Haaretz article that wrongly claimed Israel had “admitted” giving Ethiopian women birth-control injections. Haaretz later corrected this, clarifying that no wrongdoing was acknowledged and that key context had been omitted from the English version.
Depo-Provera is not sterilization but a temporary contraceptive that lasts about three months, and women who stopped taking it were able to conceive. A 2016 State Controller investigation found no evidence of forced injections, only possible procedural failures.
There was no policy to sterilize Ethiopian women, and Israel’s rapidly growing Ethiopian Jewish population decisively refutes the allegation.
Providing reversible contraception to some women in transit camps, under harsh conditions where pregnancy posed serious health risks, is not “forced sterilization.” Calling it that is a defamatory distortion built on mistranslation, omission, and deliberate deception.
Long answer
The claim that Israel forcibly sterilized Ethiopian immigrants is false and collapses under basic scrutiny.
It originated with a January 2013 Haaretz article that wrongly claimed Israel had “admitted” giving Ethiopian women birth-control injections. That wording was incorrect, and Haaretz soon published a follow-up clarifying that the Health Ministry had merely opened an investigation, not acknowledged any wrongdoing. Haaretz later corrected the original article, admitting it failed to include critical facts and context that directly contributed to the false allegation.The English edition of the article omitted key information that appeared in the Hebrew version.
Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Rami Gamzu explicitly wrote that his instruction was issued “without taking a position or establishing facts” regarding the claims.
The directive did not confirm coercion; it simply cautioned physicians to ensure patients fully understood the implications of treatment. In short, the supposed “admission” never existed.The medical facts have also been consistently distorted.
Depo-Provera is not a sterilization drug, it is a temporary contraceptive that lasts about three months and requires repeated injections to remain effective.
Women who stopped receiving the injections were able to conceive, as confirmed in Israeli television interviews. At most, a limited number of women received short-term birth control, not permanent sterilization.Some injections were administered in Ethiopian transit camps, often by non-Israelis, before the women reached Israel. Others were given in Israeli clinics, sometimes based on medical records from those camps. A small number of women later reported feeling pressured or insufficiently informed, raising legitimate concerns about consent and communication.
In 2016, Israel’s State Controller investigated the matter and found no evidence of forced injections, while acknowledging procedural shortcomings.Even critics concede there is no evidence of an Israeli policy to sterilize Ethiopian women.
If isolated failures occurred, they reflect poor medical practice or miscommunication with vulnerable, non-Hebrew-speaking patients, not racism or intent.
The allegation also defies basic logic: Israel spent enormous resources rescuing Ethiopian Jews, granting them citizenship, housing, free healthcare, and child benefits that encourage larger families.The Ethiopian Jewish population in Israel has grown dramatically since immigration, an empirical refutation of the claim. Providing reversible contraception to some women in transit camps, under harsh conditions where pregnancy posed serious health risks, is not “forced sterilization.” Labeling it as such is a defamatory distortion built on mistranslation, omission, and deliberate deception.
