Operation Solomon

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

In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government, the Mengistu regime, 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, properly referred to 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 IAF C-130s, filled to absolute capacity with seats transported 14,325 Beta Israel émigrés from Ethiopia to Israel, where they were given food and shelter. After it was over, Operation Solomon took twice as many Beta Israel émigrés to Israel as Operation Moses and Operation Joshua combined.

The operation set a world record for single-flight passenger load on 24 May 1991 when an El Al 747 carried 1,087 (which became 1,088 as a baby was born mid-flight^{[citation needed]}) passengers to Israel.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

Alisa Poskanzer (2000). Ethiopian Exodus. (Gefen Publishing House)
Ricki Rosen (2006). Transformations: From Ethiopia to Israel.
Naomi Samuel (1999). The Moon is Bread. Gefen Publishing House.
Shmuel Yilma (1996). From Falasha to Freedom: An Ethiopian Jew's Journey to Jerusalem. Gefen Publishing House.
Baruch Meiri (2001). The Dream Behind Bars: The Story of the Prisoners of Zion from Ethiopia. Gefen Publishing House.