Editing Haile Selassie (section)

====Exile debate====

[[File:SelassieInJerusalem.jpg|thumb|The Emperor arrives in [[Jerusalem]], May 1936.]]

After further debate as to whether Selassie should go to Gore or accompany his family into exile, it was agreed that he should leave Ethiopia with his family and present the case of Ethiopia to the [[League of Nations]] at [[Geneva]]. The decision was not unanimous and several participants, including the nobleman [[Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles|Blatta]] [[Tekle Wolde Hawariat]], strenuously objected to the idea of an Ethiopian monarch fleeing before an invading force.<ref>Spencer, John (2006). ''Ethiopia at Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Selassie Years''. Tsehai Publishers. {{ISBN|1-59907-000-6}}. p. 62.</ref> Selassie appointed his cousin Ras [[Imru Haile Selassie]] as Prince Regent in his absence, departing with his family for [[French Somaliland]] on 2 May 1936.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mockler||p=136}}</ref>

On 5 May, Marshal [[Pietro Badoglio]] led Italian troops into Addis Ababa, and Mussolini declared Ethiopia an Italian province. [[Victor Emanuel III]] was proclaimed as the new [[Emperor of Ethiopia]]. On the previous day, the Ethiopian exiles had left French Somaliland aboard the British cruiser [[HMS Enterprise (D52)|HMS ''Enterprise'']]. They were bound for [[Jerusalem]] in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], where the Ethiopian imperial family maintained a residence. The family disembarked at [[Haifa]] and then went on to Jerusalem. Once there, Selassie and his retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva. The choice of Jerusalem was highly symbolic, since the [[Solomonic Dynasty]] claimed descent from the [[House of David]]. Leaving the [[Holy Land]], Selassie and his entourage sailed aboard the British cruiser [[HMS Capetown (D88)|HMS ''Capetown'']] for [[Gibraltar]], where he stayed at the [[Rock Hotel]]. From Gibraltar, the exiles were transferred to an ordinary liner. By doing this, the United Kingdom government was spared the expense of a state reception.<ref>Barker, A. J. (1936), ''The Rape of Ethiopia'', p. 132</ref>