The Story of Operation Solomon – Il Post

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Black Jews of Ethiopia
Many hypotheses have been made about the origins of the Jewish community that once lived in Ethiopia, but there are no historical certainties about their origin. According to various historians, the first documentable information on the community dates back to 600-700 AD. Several Ethiopian Jews trace their origins to an even earlier period, to the time of the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BC and the consequent diaspora of the Jewish people.

The persecutions of Ethiopian Jews by neighboring Muslim and Orthodox populations began around the year 1000 and continued for several centuries. From the mid-nineteenth century, thanks to direct contact with scholars and rabbis, the Beta Israel – long called “falascia”, a term nowadays not recommended because it has acquired negative connotations – began to understand that they were part of a much larger community to which they could refer; the Jewish world, even if with some resistance, then knew their existence.

Researches began on the origins of their religious beliefs and assessments of their alleged “purity”, and for a long time many continued not to consider them true Jews. As a result, the Beta Israelis were excluded from the mainstream of Judaism. It was following the constitution of the state of Israel in 1948 that the Israeli authorities decided to recognize them as Jews who were recipients of the Law of Return, which guarantees all people of the Jewish religion to settle in Israel and obtain citizenship.

The flight from Ethiopia of some families of Beta Israel, across the border with Sudan, began in the early 1970s, due to the political situation. In 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by a coup organized by some army officers supported by the Soviet Union. In 1977 power was assumed by Colonel Mènghistu Hailè Mariàm, who established a dictatorial regime by organizing a violent repression of all those he believed were his opponents, including black Jews. The situation worsened due to the consequences of two famines, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Many Ethiopians and many Ethiopian Jews fled the country taking refuge in the refugee camps of Sudan, where the Muslim government, however, did not prove welcoming.

The situation prompted Israel to organize rescue plans. Thus was born Operation Moses (between November 1984 and January 1985), Operation Saba (in March 1985, also carried out thanks to some US transport aircraft) and above all, a few years later, Operation Solomon .

Operation Solomon
In 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union, the political balance also changed in Ethiopia: the Communist-inspired military government in power since 1974 – which had been replaced in 1987 by a civilian government formed by a single party, with Mènghistu still in power – it went into crisis. The fear that the black Jews still present in Ethiopia could become the target of new violence prompted the Israeli government to prepare a new and final evacuation plan.

At first an attempt was made to organize the operation with the authorization of the Ethiopian authorities. The Israeli government made contact with Mènghistu, who gave his consent in exchange for the supply of weapons and ammunition. However, the issue of permits for expatriation was continually postponed, the requests of Mènghistu and his supporters increased until, in May 1991, the situation worsened and Mènghistu fled the country. For fear that the opposition forces would take revenge on the Beta Israel for the support that Israel had given to Mènghistu, the transfer was organized within a few days under the direction of the Mossad.

Operation Solomon began on May 24, 1991. 34 aircraft, both civil and military, were involved. The Beta Israelis were gathered near the Bole airport in Addis Ababa, with virtually no luggage, and the airliners were completely emptied of seats and bulkheads. A sticker with a progressive number was attached to each person’s forehead as a provisional identification, and about 14,500 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated in about 36 hours. Upon arrival in Israel, they were again identified, fed and clothed. The Israeli prime minister at the time, Yitzhak Shamir, proclaimed that he had “fulfilled a moral obligation”.

Black Jews today
Many of the Israelis of Ethiopian origin living in Israel today, around 150,000 people in all, have failed to integrate into Israeli society, live in poverty and have difficulty finding work. Over the years they have suffered recurrent violence by the police, and are still victims of racism today.

Then there is a component of the Beta Israel community whose situation is even more complicated: they are the Falash Mura – a term originally used as a derogatory term and which means “exiled” – or the descendants of Ethiopian Jews who over a century ago they converted to Christianity, often under the constraint of European missionaries. Since then many of them have started practicing Judaism again, but for Israel they have never been able to take advantage of the Law of Return.

The Israeli government does not recognize them as “completely Jewish”: to migrate to Israel they need a special permit and once they enter the country they undergo a conversion process, also intended for those who already practice the Jewish religion. In 2015, Israel approved a plan to welcome all Falash Mura still in Ethiopia, around 10,000 people, by the end of 2020. The plan was suspended a few months later, however, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that there were no enough money, and only 2 thousand emigrated.

In October 2020 the Israeli government had approved a new transfer to Israel of 2 thousand Falash Mura, of the 8 thousand who are still in Ethiopia. The measure, although considered a first step in solving the problem, had been criticized by many Ethiopian Israeli activists, who would like all members of the community to be welcomed into Israel. The transfers began in December 2020 and ended in March 2021.

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