Israel is marking the 30th anniversary of Operation Solomon this week, celebrating the largest-ever individual Aliyah mission undertaken from any country in the world.
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The covert military operation took place on May 24-25, 1991, when 14,325 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted from Addis Ababa to Israel on nonstop flights involving 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, which transported them from the war-torn country to safety in Israel in 36 hours.
Operation Solomon was the third aliyah mission from Ethiopia to Israel. It was preceded by Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Joshua in 1985. In the mid-1980s Ethiopian Jews found it virtually impossible to leave the country and only a very small number of them were able to leave and go to Israel.
The Jewish Agency and the Israeli government were the main players in planning and executing Operation Solomon, working with the support of the American Joint Distribution Committee, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, the Jewish Federations of North America, and more.
American Jewry mobilized in support of the operation, raising $35 million in just a few hours to cover the payment demanded by the Ethiopian government.
"This milestone anniversary of Operation Solomon serves as a crucial reminder for Israel and global Jewry that all of the Jewish people are responsible for one another. It also shows, once again, that when the global Jewish people collectively rally together around a cause, nothing is impossible," said Jewish Agency CEO Amira Ahronoviz. "As new crises will undoubtedly arise, The Jewish Agency is committed to continuing its historic role in supporting the global Jewish people in their time of need."
In the weeks leading up to Operation Solomon, The Jewish Agency and the JDC oversaw the identification of those Ethiopian Jews who were eligible to make Aliyah, issuing documentation to ensure that when the day arrived, family members would be kept together on their journey to Israel.
For more than 40 years, the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government have assisted over 95,000 Ethiopian Jews to move to Israel. Currently, there are more than 150,000 first-generation Ethiopian immigrants and second-generation Ethiopian Israelis living in Israel.
The Jewish Agency operates 10 Absorption Centers in Israel dedicated to new immigrants from Ethiopia, helping ease their transition to a modern and industrialized country. Absorption Centers offer job training to adults and after-school academic enrichment to the children. All activities at the centers are provided with deep cultural sensitivity that is based on years of experience.
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