Operation Solomon

A couple of decades ago, while on staff with the ICEJ, I was perusing their archives when I happened upon a VHS tape called Operation Solomon. I took it home and popped it into the player, and within moments tears were rolling down my cheeks.  I was so impacted by what was on that tape, I determined there and then that I must meet someone who was directly involved in that operation.

I contacted the Director of the Ethiopian Absorption Center near Jerusalem; he turned out to be that ‘someone.’  You see, in 1991 he was on one of the 35 jumbo jets in that aeronautical armada that airlifted 14,325 Jews to Israel in just a matter of hours – very crucial hours!

Before I share with you what the director told me, here is a paragraph of background information that will lend context to his story:

"In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the military successes of Eritrean and Tigrayan rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous political destabilization. World Jewish organizations, such as the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), and Israel were concerned about the well-being of the Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, residing in Ethiopia. The majority of them were living in the Gondar region of the Ethiopian Highlands and were mostly farmers and artisans. (Many of the Jews that came from Gondar had to venture hundreds of miles by car, horse, and on foot. Some had things taken by thieves on the way, and some were even killed. By December 1989, around 2,000 Ethiopian Jews made their way by foot from their villages in the Gondar highlands to Addis Ababa and many more came to join them by 1991).  The Mengistu regime had made mass emigration difficult for Beta Israel, and the regime's dwindling power presented an opportunity for those wanting to emigrate to Israel. In 1990, the Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces, aware of Ethiopia's worsening political situation, made covert plans to airlift the Jews to Israel.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Solomon)

And now, the director’s story.  I leaned into every word that he shared with me, as he confirmed the incredible events revealed on that tape. 

The director told me that he had received notice that he and his family were to present themselves at the clinic the next morning; just a simple flu shot, he was told. The following morning, he gathered up his wife and children and headed to the doctor’s office, leaving his wallet and personal items on the bureau in the bedroom – they would be back in a just few moments.

Upon arrival at the clinic, they were informed that the medical procedure was taking place at a different location, so they hopped on a van that ended up at the airport.  There they witnessed an unusual number of unmarked Jets.  Rumors flew; was it because of the encroachment upon Addis Ababa by the rebel forces, and they were being temporarily airlifted to Sudan for safety?

The confusion amplified as the director and his family boarded the 747 jumbo jet; there were no seats.  They had all been removed to maximize space for the endangered Ethiopians, all 1,086 of them. Mind you, this was a plane that typically transported 300-500 passengers.

This is the part of his story that really touched me.  The director said that within moments of liftoff, the captain’s voice boomed over the intercom; the message went something like this: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard! It is my honor to inform you that your long-awaited journey is nearly over; you will soon be touching down in Israel.  You are going home!”

Later, I was invited by the director to show the VHS to the immigrants at the absorption center.  In the final few minutes of the video, a jumbo jet had touched down in Tel Aviv, and the camera was focused on the Ethiopian immigrants as they walked down the stairs and onto the tarmac at Ben Gurion. Suddenly, the director jumped up and ran to the screen; “That’s me!  That’s us!  There we are, arriving in Israel!” The tape concluded with an interview with one of the pilots.  He too was in tears as he described how his plane arrived with two more people than what he had left with in Ethiopia; two babies were born inflight to their new home in Israel.