Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews"Operation Solomon" was one of the most remarkable rescue efforts in modern history, in which more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel in little more than a day. Now, in this riveting volume, Stephen Spector offers the definitive account of this incredible story, based on over 200 interviews and exclusive access to confidential documents.Written with the pace and immediacy of a novel, here is the dramatic story of the rescue of the dark-skinned Jews of Ethiopia. Spector recounts how 20,000 Jews were willingly lured from their ancestral villages to Addis Ababa, expecting to be taken quickly from there to the Holy Land. Instead, they became pawns in a struggle between the Israeli government and Ethiopia's repressive dictator, who tried to coerce Israel into selling him weapons he needed in a losing war against rebel armies. In the resulting stalemate, the Jewish community was forced to live for nearly a year in squalid hovels, vulnerable to the dangers of the city, including crime and HIV. Worse yet, the imminent collapse of Addis Ababa, with the rebels closing in on the capital, raised the threat of bloody street fighting or even a genocidal attack on the Jews, a small minority in a nation that is primarily Christian and Muslim. Spector describes the tense negotiations among Israelis, Ethiopians, and Americans, which became increasingly urgent as time ran low and the danger mounted. And he highlights the secret deals and sudden setbacks that nearly aborted the mission at the eleventh hour, even as Israeli jets sat on the runway in Ethiopia, waiting to take the Jews to the land for which they had yearned for generations.Recounting the full story for the first time, Operation Solomon is a stirring account of a heroic rescue achieved in the face of daunting odds. |
Other editions - View all
Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews Stephen Spector No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
$35 million AAEJ account number Addis Ababa airlift airport aliyah ambassador American Jewish leaders Ami Bergman April arms asked Barak Beta Israel Bob Houdek Boschwitz Chomanesh Christian cluster bombs Dan'el Dinitz diplomatic e-mail interview Eli Eliezri emigration EPLF EPRDF Eritrea Ethio Ethiopian aliyah Ethiopian Exodus Ethiopian government Ethiopian Jews Ethiopian-Israeli Falash Mura Falashas February Foreign Ministry Gideon Taylor Gondar Henze Herman Cohen Hodes immigrants Intervening in Africa Interview with Lubrani Israeli embassy January JDC archive JDC record Jerusalem Post Jewish Agency Jewish community June Kassa Kassa Kebede knew later Lost Tribe Lubrani Maimon Mantber Meles Mengistu Mersha Micha Feldman Michael Schneider mission Mizrachi months Mossad NACOEJ Naim Operation Moses Operation Solomon plane president Prime Minister rebels recalled Recant rescue Saving the Lost Scowcroft Shamir Soviet Sudan Susan Pollack Tashteet telephone interview Tesfaye Dinka thousand told transport program United Uri Lubrani villages wanted weapons Yoffe Zimna