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. 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. |
Contents
1 | |
Restoring Diplomatic RelationsConceiving the Aliyah July 1988January 1990 | 19 |
The AAEJ Accelerates the Process FebruaryApril 1990 | 31 |
A Potential Catastrophe MayJune 1990 | 45 |
EggsUri LubraniCluster Bombs JulyOctober 1990 | 63 |
Carrots Not CaratsThe Kitchen Cabinet NovemberDecember 1990 | 73 |
The Doomsday ScenarioThe Falash Mura JanuaryFebruary 1991 | 83 |
Mengistus ChestnutsThe Ante March 1991 | 93 |
The Wings of History Thursday May 23 1991 | 140 |
Operation Solomon 400 am300 pm Friday May 24 1991 | 148 |
Operation Solomon Continued 300 pm Friday May 24300 pm Saturday May 25 1991 | 161 |
Epilogue | 181 |
APPENDIX 1 Annual Emigration from Addis Ababa to Israel | 197 |
APPENDIX 2 The Number of People Brought to Israel in Operation Solomon | 199 |
APPENDIX 3 A Conversation with Kassa Kebede | 201 |
Notes | 205 |
Taking the Chips AwayThe Cordon SanitaireRudy Boschwitz April 118 1991 | 101 |
The Boschwitz MissionSetting the Price April 2429 1991 | 110 |
Playing Poker with Sechel May 119 1991 | 123 |
The Final Week Mengistus FlightClosing the Deal Monday May 20Wednesday May 22 1991 | 131 |
Glossary of Names and Terms | 243 |
251 | |
269 | |
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Common terms and phrases
$35 million AAEJ account number Addis Ababa airlift airport aliyah American Jewish leaders Ami Bergman April April 29 asked Barak Beta Israel Bob Houdek Boschwitz buses Chomanesh Christian Dan'el December e-mail interview Eli Eliezri emigration EPRDF Eritrea Ethio Ethiopian aliyah Ethiopian Exodus Ethiopian government Ethiopian Jews Ethiopian-Israeli Falash Mura Falashas February Foreign Ministry Friedman Gideon Taylor Gondar Hebrew Henze Herman Cohen Hodes Intervening in Africa Interview with Frasure Interview with Lubrani Israeli embassy January JDC archive JDC record Jerusalem Post Jewish Agency June Kaplan Kassa Kassa Kebede Kraar later Lost Tribe Maimon Mantber March Meles memo Mengistu Mersha Micha Feldman Michael Schneider mission Mizrachi Mossad NACOEJ November October Odenheimer Operation Moses Operation Solomon plane president prime minister rebels recalled Recant rescue Saving the Lost Scowcroft Shamir Shapiro Simcha Dinitz Soviet Sudan Susan Pollack Tashteet telephone interview Tesfaye Dinka thousand told Uri Lubrani wanted York Zimna