The incident at the airfield taught members of the IAF and Mossad several lessons: on the next trip, the plane would land and lower the ramp from its tail beforehand, and the truckloads of immigrants would go directly into the Hercules’ open belly, without seeing the monster thundering toward them across the runway.
But Sudanese authorities discovered the operation, as well as the airfield. The Israelis found another landing area, roughly forty-six kilometers from Port Sudan, deciding then to arrange an airlift that would include seven Rhino flights, with two hundred Jews departing on each. Overseeing the mission would be the head of the Mossad and Brigadier General Amos Yaron, the paratroopers’ chief officer. The operation was carried out between 1982 and 1984, during which fifteen hundred immigrants were brought to Israel.
On the eve of each operation, a truck would arrive at the landing area and light up the runway. The plane coming from Israel would touch down, run along the landing strip and turn around, opening its large tail door. Members of the air force’s Shaldag commando unit would form two lines leading to the gaping door in the shape of a funnel, and when the trucks arrived, the immigrants would walk through the funnel, directly into the belly of the plane, where they would seat themselves on the floor. Many didn’t even realize they were inside a plane.
On one of the flights, an elderly, distinguished Kess—a religious and social leader—got up and asked who the senior officer was. The flight crew accompanied him to Brigadier General Avihu Ben-Nun, of the air force. The Kess stood before him and slowly, ceremonially, pulled out an ancient sword from his belt and extended it toward him. “Until now, I’ve been responsible for their fate,” he said, gesturing with his hand in the direction of his brothers. “From now on, you are,” he continued, handing the sword to a visibly moved Ben-Nun.
At the end of 1984, the situation in Sudan destabilized even further; the country needed emergency humanitarian assistance and food. Israel took advantage of the situation, directing a request to the United States to aid Sudan—in exchange for Jewish immigrants. U.S. Vice President George Bush immediately responded, instructing the American embassy staff in Khartoum to initiate negotiations with Nimeiry. The talks proved a success, and Sudan agreed to the Ethiopian Jews’ orderly departure by air, on the condition that they not fly directly to Israel but through a third country. The Mossad identified a small, Jewish-owned Belgian airline and launched Operation Moses: over the course of forty-seven days, the Belgian Boeings would complete thirty-six flights, transporting 7,800 Jews to Israel.
Following leaks by Israeli leaders to the world media, Nimeiry halted the operation. But Bush didn’t give up, dispatching seven U.S. Air Force Hercules planes to Gadarif, in Sudan, in an operation called Queen of Sheba. The American planes flew five hundred remaining Jews from Sudan directly to Israel’s Ramon airbase. This mission crowned the close cooperation between the Israeli and American air forces in their common purpose—rescuing the Jews of Ethiopia.
Although Operations Moses and Queen of Sheba concluded successfully, thousands of Jews remained in Ethiopia. During the various stages of this exodus, many families were separated or torn apart, with children arriving in Israel without their parents and vice versa. The ruptures caused tremendous difficulties, and even tragedies, during the Ethiopians’ absorption into Israel. At the same time, a lethal civil war had broken out in Ethiopia, and immediate danger loomed over the lives of the country’s Jews. Emissaries of the Mossad and the Jewish Agency gathered thousands of Jews in makeshift camps in Addis Ababa, where they awaited a miracle that would bring them to Israel.
And the miracle happened.
In May 1991, seven years after Operation Moses, Operation Solomon was launched. It was carried out at the height of the civil war, as rebel forces opposing President Mengistu advanced from every direction on Addis Ababa. Israel was aided once again by George Bush, by then the American president, whose mediation produced an agreement between the Israeli government and the head of the collapsing regime several days before Mengistu’s final defeat. Secret, dogged work by Uri Lubrani, of Israel’s foreign ministry, acting under orders from Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, made it a reality.
As part of the agreement, Israel paid $35 million to Mengistu in exchange for bringing the Jews to Israel, while the Americans promised Mengistu and several senior members of his regime that they would receive diplomatic asylum in the United States. In exchange for an unknown sum, the rebel leaders agreed not to disrupt the operation and to observe a temporary cease-fire. The cease-fire, agreed upon by both government and rebel forces, was short: thirty-four hours. Israel had to fly all the Jews out of the country before the fighting resumed.
The mission was overseen by the IDF’s deputy chief of staff, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who bore responsibility for flying approximately fifteen thousand Jews to Israel within thirty-four hours. The organization of the mission was exemplary, with Israel sending “anything that could fly” to Addis Ababa. El Al dispatched thirty passenger planes and the air force sent numerous cargo jets; leading them, of course, were the Rhinos. Hundreds of soldiers from various units, including infantry, Shaldag and the paratroopers, were sent to Addis Ababa to organize the immigrants and bring them aboard the planes. Especially prominent were soldiers of Ethiopian background who had arrived in Israel during Operation Moses and were now serving in the IDF. The sight of Ethiopian soldiers in IDF uniforms, many of them proudly wearing the red berets, red boots and silver paratroopers’ wings, inspired great excitement among the new immigrants, and even the toughest Ethiopian-Israeli paratroopers couldn’t stop their tears. The soldiers spread out to secure the airfield, leading the Jews onto the planes. They were divided into groups and each given a number; numbered labels were initially attached to their clothing, but a different process was subsequently discovered—sticking the labels on their foreheads. Within a few hours, 14,400 Jews were brought aboard the planes. Lipkin-Shahak oversaw the operation with his characteristic calm and composure.
As part of the operation, a Boeing 747 was going to break the world record, with 1,087 passengers on board. During the flight, a baby was born, and 1,088 immigrants deplaned in Israel.
The lost tribe returns on eagle’s wings. (Zvika Israeli, GPO)
Many Jews remained in Ethiopia, still aspiring to immigrate to Israel. Ethiopian Jewry’s fight to “ascend” had left many behind. In Israel, too, Ethiopian Jews were forced to struggle hard to be absorbed into Israeli society, to be recognized as Jews, to achieve true equality and to adapt to a modern society, where the worldview and traditions by which they had lived for thousands of years came apart.
BENNY GANTZ, LATER THE IDF CHIEF OF STAFF
“I took part in numerous assignments during my military career, among them secret operations. My life has been in danger more than once: I’ve been shot at, crossed paths with terrorists, lost fighters and saw friends die next to me. But the mission of bringing the Jews of Ethiopia to Israel, in which I participated as a Shaldag commander, was the most important, from a national standpoint, of all the operations I’ve taken part in. This mission, in substance, encompasses the entire concept of a national home for the Jewish people. The idea that you can carry it out—that’s Zionism. It wasn’t a heroic mission of individuals. It was the heroic mission of a country.
“I’m a son of Holocaust survivors, and during the evacuation, I couldn’t not think for a moment about what would have happened if we’d had a country back then; perhaps everything might have been different. How might European Jewry have looked? There, in Ethiopia, I realized that the state of Israel was doing something great and powerful.
“There’s a memory that I carry with me to this day: we’re landing in the dark, leaving the plane, which looks like a terrible monster, reaching people sitting, folded on the ground, wrapped in blankets, carrying them in our arms into the belly of the plane, the door closing, taking off, the pilots turning on the lights, and then our eyes meeting, so many eyes looking toward you in frigh
t, and it’s impossible to communicate with them.
“The thing that most bothered me about the operation was the moment when the first caravan of immigrants came toward us on the airfield, and suddenly I could make out the stickers with numbers on their foreheads. That made me crazy, and I asked that the numbers be removed immediately.
“Since then, there’ve been moving moments of coming full circle. I met a singer in a military troupe who told me, moments before singing the national anthem, that she had been a baby during Operation Solomon.”
AFTERMATH
Yitzhak Navon (1921 to ): Ben Gurion’s secretary since 1951, Navon became the fifth president of Israel (1978 to 1983) and later was elected minister of education and culture.
Yitzhak Rabin (1922 to 1995): Chief of staff (1964 to 1967). Ambassador to the U.S. Prime minister of Israel (1974 to 1977, 1992 to 1995). Was assassinated in November 1995.
David (“Dado”) Elazar (1925 to 1976): Commander of the Northern District in the Six Day War. Chief of staff (1972 to1974), was forced to resign after the Yom Kippur War by decision of the Agranat Board of Inquiry. Died of a heart attack (1976).
Uzi Eilam (1934 to ): Brigadier general in the IDF. Director general of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (1976 to 1985) and chief scientist and director (research and development) in the Ministry of Defense (1986 to 1997).
Moshe Dayan (1915 to 1981): Lieutenant general. Chief of staff (1953 to 1958). Minister of Agriculture (1959 to 1964). Minister of defense (1967 to 1974). As minister of foreign affairs (1977 to 1979) he played a major role in negotiating the peace treaty with Egypt.
Ariel (“Arik”) Sharon (1928 to 2014): Major general. Commander of the Paratroopers Corps (1954 to 1957). Discharged from the IDF in 1973, minister of defense (1981 to 1983), removed from his position by the Kahan Board of Inquiry after the War in Lebanon (1982). Served in several ministerial positions, elected prime minister in 2001, and as such carried out Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. After suffering a stroke in 2006, he remained in a coma until his death in 2014.
Meir Har-Zion (1934 to 2014): Captain. A founder of Unit 101, member of the first paratrooper battalion, was awarded the Medal of Courage, lived on a farm in the Gilboa mountains named after his sister Shoshana; died in 2014.
Aharon Davidi (1920 to 2012): Brigadier general. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Director and founder of Sar-El volunteer program of the IDF.
Shimon (“Katcha”) Kahaner (1934 to ): Colonel, member of Unit 101. Raises cattle on a farm in northern Israel, across the gully from his late friend Meir Har-Zion.
Mordechai (“Motta”) Gur (1930 to 1995): Lieutenant general. Commander of the 55th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade, which captured Jerusalem in the Six Day War (1967). Israel’s military attaché in Washington (1972 to 1973). Chief of staff during Operation Entebbe (1976). Minister of health (1984 to l986). Deputy defense minister (1992 to 1997). Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he committed suicide with his handgun.
Yoash (“Chatto”) Zidon (1926 to 2015): Combat pilot and commander in the Israeli Air Force. The head of weapon system and planning in the IAF. Member of Knesset (1988 to 1992).
Ezer Weizman (1924 to 2005): Major general, commander of the IAF (1958 to 1966). Minister of defense (1977 to 1980). Seventh president of Israel (1993 to 2000). Died at home in Caesarea.
Rafael (“Raful”) Eitan (1929 to 2005): Lieutenant general. Chief of staff (1978 to 1983). Established the right-wing political party Tzomet. Deputy prime minister (1998 to 1999) then retired. Swept by a wave into the sea from Ashdod’s wharf during a severe storm.
Shimon Peres (1923 to ): Defense ministry director general and deputy defense minister under Ben-Gurion. Defense minister (1974 to 1977, 1995 to 1996). Minister of foreign affairs (1986 to 1988, 1992 to 1995, 2001 to 2002). Prime minister (1984 to 1986, 1995 to 1996). Ninth president of Israel (2007 to 2014).
Rehavam (“Gandhi”) Ze’evi (1926 to 2001): Major general, commander of the Central Military District. Established the right-wing Moledet party (1988). Minister without portfolio (1999). Minister of tourism (2001). Assassinated in the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem in 2001 by four Palestinian gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Avihu Ben-Nun (1939 to ): Major general, Israeli Air Force (1957 to 1992). Combat pilot. Commander of the Israeli Air Force (1987 to 1992).
Mordechai (“Motti”) Hod (1926 to 2003): Major general. Combat pilot. Commander of the Israeli Air Force (1966 to 1973).
Amichai (“Ami”) Ayalon (1945 to ): Admiral, commander of Flotilla 13 (1979), commander of the Israeli Navy (1992 to 1996). Recipient of the Medal of Valor. Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service (the Shin-Beth) (1995 to 2000). Minister without portfolio (2007 to 2008). Senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.
Haim Bar-Lev (1924 to 1994): Lieutenant general. Chief of staff (1968 to 1971). Responsible for the Bar-Lev Line, fortifications built along the Suez Canal. Several ministry positions, and ambassador to Russia (1992 to 1994).
Hadar Kimchi (1929 to ): Commander of the Cherbourg Operation (1968). Deputy commander of the Israeli Navy (1971 to 1973).
Mordechai (“Moka”) Limon (1924 to 2009): Admiral, commander of the navy (1950 to 1954). Head of delegation of procurement of the Ministry of Defense in Paris (1962 to 1970).
Nehemiah Dagan (1940 to ): Brigadier general. Combat pilot (helicopters). Commander of the IDF education department (1985 to 1988).
Eitan Ben Eliyahu (1944 to ): Major general. Combat pilot. Commander of the IAF (1996 to 2000).
Amir Eshel (1959 to ): Major general. Commander of the IAF since 2012.
Benyamin Netanyahu (l945 to ): Captain, Sayeret Matkal. Israel’s ambassador to the UN (1984 to 1988). Minister of finance (2003 to 2005). Prime minister (1996 to 1999) (2009 to ).
Uzi Dayan (1948 to ): Major general. Nephew of Moshe Dayan. Fifteen years in Sayeret Matkal. Deputy chief of staff. Head of the National Security Council (2003 to 2005).
Ehud Barak (1942 to ): Lieutenant general. Commander of Sayeret Matkal. Chief of staff (1991 to 1995). Prime minister (1999 to 2001). Minister of defense and deputy prime minister (2009 to 2013).
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1944 to 2012): Lieutenant general. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Head of Military Intelligence (1986 to 1991). Deputy chief of staff (1991). Chief of staff of the IDF (1995 to 1998). Member of Knesset and Cabinet Minister.
Moshe (“Muki”) Betzer (1945 to ): Colonel. Deputy commander of Sayeret Matkal. First commander of Shaldag (commando of the Israeli Air Force).
Moshe (“Bogi”) Ya’alon (1950 to ): Lieutenant general. Commander of Sayeret Matkal. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Chief of Staff (2002 to 2005). Minister of defense (2013 to ).
Danny Matt (1927 to 2013): Major general. Commander of the Paratroopers Regular Brigade. Commander of the Paratroopers Reservist Brigade 247 (55). Chair of the IDF appeal court.
Yitzhak Mordechai (1944 to ): Major general. Commander of the Paratroopers and Infantry Corps. Commander of the Northern Command (1993 to 1995). Minister of defense (1996 to 1999). Deputy prime minister (1999 to 2000). Retired from political life in 2001.
Amnon Reshef (1938 to ): Major general. Commander of the Armored Corps. Chairman, Association for Peace and Security.
Avigdor Kahalani (1944 to ): Brigadier general. Commander of the 7th Brigade of the Armored Corps. Decorated with the Medal of Valor, the Medal of Distinguished Service and the President’s Medal. Minister of internal security (1996 to 1999). Chairman, the Association for the Soldiers’ Welfare.
Tamir Pardo (1953 to ): Communications officer, Sayeret Matkal. Head of the Mossad (2011 to ).
Shaul Mofaz (1948 to ): Lieutenant general. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division. Chief of staff (1998 to 2002). Minister of defense (2002 to 2006). Deputy prime minister and minister of transports (2006 to 2009). Later head of the opposition in the Knesset. Retired from polit
ical life in 2015.
Dan Shomron (1937 to 2008): Lieutenant general. Commander of the Paratroopers and Infantry Corps. Chief of staff (1987 to 1991). Chairman of the Israeli Military Industries.
Meir Dagan (1945 to ): Major general, various military positions. Medal of Courage. Director of the Mossad (2002 to 2010).
Gavriel (“Gabi”) Ashkenazi (1954 to ): Lieutenant general. Deputy chief of staff (2002 to 2005). Director general of the defense ministry (2006). Chief of staff (2007 to 2011).
Aviem Sella (1946 to ): Colonel. Combat pilot. (Advancement arrested because of his involvement in the Jonathan Pollard affair.)
Eliezer (“Chiney”) Marom (1955 to ): Admiral. Commander of the Israeli Navy (2007 to 2012).
Aviv Kochavi (1964 to): Major general. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Commander of military intelligence. Commander of the Northern District.
Itzhak (“Jerry”) Gershon (1958 to ): Major general. Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division. CEO of Friends of the IDF in the U.S. (2008 to 2015).
Dan Halutz (1948 to): Lieutenant general. Combat pilot. Commander of the IAF (2002 to 2004). Chief of staff (2005 to 2007). Resigned after the second Lebanon War.
Yoav Galant (1958 to):Major general. Commander of the Southern District during Operation Cast Lead. Appointed chief of staff in 2010, but the appointment was cancelled. Minister of Housing (2015 to ).
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish (l955 to): Palestinian doctor. Since 2009, lives with his family in Toronto. Founder of the trust Daughters for Life, for the education and health of girls and women in Gaza and the Middle East. Active in promoting the peace movement.
SOURCE NOTES
The sources marked with an (h) are in Hebrew
1: Entebbe, 1976
“Operation Yonathan (Thunderball)—The full report,” IDF Archives, November 1977. (h)
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