Operation Moses, (Hebrew: מבצע משה, Mivtza Moshe), named after the biblical figure Moses, was the covert removal of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community) from Sudan during a famine in 1984. The operation was a cooperative effort between the Israel Defense Forces, the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States embassy in Khartoum, mercenaries and Sudanese state security forces.[1] Begun November 21, 1984, it involved the air transport of some 8,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan directly to Israel, ending January 5, 1985 (one source claims as many as 18,000 were rescued [3]). Thousands of Beta Israel had fled Ethiopia on foot for refugee camps in Sudan. It is estimated as many as 4,000 died during the trek. Sudan secretly allowed Israel to evacuate the refugees. Once the story broke in the media, Arab countries pressured Sudan to stop the airlift. Some 1,000 Ethiopian Jews were left behind. Most of them were evacuated later in the U.S.-led Operation Joshua. More than 1,000 so-called "orphans of circumstance" existed in Israel, children separated from their families still in Africa, until Operation Solomon completed the migration of the Ethiopian Jews.[2] This operation was the subject of an Israeli-French film titled Go, Live, and Become, directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu. The film centers on an Ethiopian Christian child whose mother passes him as a Jew so he can immigrate to Israel along with the Jews in order to escape the famine that is looming in Ethiopia. The film went on to win the 2005 award for Best Film at the Copenhagen International Film Festival.[3]
See also
References
- 1985: Israel ends major Ethiopian rescue mission. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
- Anastasia Toufexis (1985-01-21). Israel Stormy Skies for a Refugee Airlift. TIME. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
- Viktor Ostrovsky, By Way of Deception, Stoddard Publishing, 1990.
Further reading
- Meiri, Baruch 2001, "The Dream Behind Bars: The Story of the Prisoners of Zion from Ethiopia", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-221-4
- Poskanzer, Alisa 2000, "Ethiopian Exodus", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-217-6
- Rosen, Ricki 2006, "Transformations: From Ethiopia to Israel", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-377-6
- Samuel, Naomi 1999, "The Moon is Bread", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-212-5
- Shimron, Gad 2007, "Mossad Exodus; The Daring Undercover Rescue of the Lost Jewish Tribe", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 978-9652294036
- Yilma, Shmuel 1996, "From Falasha to Freedom: An Ethiopian Jew's Journey to Jerusalem", Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-169-2
