Kerry 'Confident' Israel Will Probe Violence against Ethiopian Community

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he was confident Israel would investigate violence against the Ethiopian Jewish community after a wave of angry protests in recent days.

"I'm confident that Israeli leadership will work this through in a way that honors the goals, and aspirations and traditions and values of the people of Israel," Kerry told reporters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

He said he believed the matter would be put "thoroughly under investigation."

Last week, years of simmering anger within the Ethiopian minority exploded into anger during a protest in Jerusalem sparked by a video showing two police assaulting an Ethiopian soldier in uniform.

Ethiopian Israelis claim their community, which numbers more than 135,000, has long suffered from widespread discrimination.