Operation Solomon

Operation Solomon was a 1991 covert Israeli military operation to take Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the recent military successes of Eritrean and Tigrean rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous political destabilization. Several Jewish organizations, including the state of Israel, were concerned about the well-being of the sizable population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, residing in Ethiopia. Also, the Mengistu regime had made mass emigration difficult for Beta Israel residing in Ethiopia, and the regime's dwindling power presented a promising opportunity for those Beta Israel who had been wanting to emigrate to Israel. In the previous year, 1990, the Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces, aware of Mengistu's worsening political situation, made covert plans to airlift the Beta Israel population in Ethiopia to Israel. This became the largest emigration of Beta Israel to date.

In 36 hours, non-stop flights of 34 Israeli aircraft, including IAF C-130s and El Al cargo planes, transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.^[1]

Operation Solomon airlifted almost twice as many Ethiopian Jews to Israel as Operation Moses. The operation set a world record for single-flight passenger load on May 24, 1991 when an El Al 747 carried 1,122 passengers to Israel (1,087 passengers were registered, but dozens of children hid in their mothers' robes). "Planners expected to fill the aircraft with 760 passengers. Because the passengers were so light, many more were squeezed in."^[2] Two babies were born during the flight.^[1]

See also

• Operation Moses
• Operation Joshua

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Brinkley, Joel (May 26, 1991). "Ethiopian Jews and Israelis Exult as Airlift Is Completed". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DD1E3CF935A15756C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. 
2. ^ Cf. Lungen, Paul. Canadian Jewish News, November 17, 2005.

Further reading

• Naomi Samuel (1999). The Moon is Bread. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-212-5
• Shmuel Yilma (1996). From Falasha to Freedom: An Ethiopian Jew's Journey to Jerusalem. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-169-2
• Alisa Poskanzer (2000). Ethiopian Exodus. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-217-6
• Baruch Meiri (2001). The Dream Behind Bars: The Story of the Prisoners of Zion from Ethiopia. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-221-4
• Stephen Spector (2005). Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195177824
• Ricki Rosen (2006). Transformations: From Ethiopia to Israel. ISBN 965-229-377-6
• Gad Shimron (2007). Mossad Exodus: The Daring Undercover Rescue of the Lost Jewish Tribe . Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 978-9652294036

External links

• Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency has been responsible for the aliyah from around the world since 1948