She has taken an interest in the situation of Ethiopian Jews, who, it is believed, lived for more than 2500 years separated from the rest of their co-religionists. The Betya Israel or House of Israel, as they call themselves, were termed "Falasha" or “aliens” by the Ethiopians. They lived peacefully in isolated areas as farmers and trades people, but they suffered discrimination depending on the politics and attitudes of different regimes. Between 1984 and 1991, when famine killed a million people, civil war ravaged the country and Middle East politics became volatile, the Betya Israel appealed to the Israeli government to be taken in under the law of return which guarantees citizenship to Jews. Today, about 100,000 Betya Israel live in Israel.