In 1979, increasingly pressured by the Derg, the military coalition that had replaced the King, Bogale emigrated to Israel with help from the American Association for Ethiopian Jews and his own relatives. Later that same year, Bogale, his son, Zecarias Yona, Rahamim Elazar and Baruch Tegegne traveled to Montreal, Canada, at the invitation of the Council of the Jewish Federations, to address that organization's General Assembly. On November 19, Bogale spoke during the plenary session to the 2,500 North American Jewish leaders in attendance. Following his presentation, delegates passed a pro-Beta Israel resolution, becoming the first major Jewish organization to support saving the Ethiopian Jewish community.