Operation Moses – took the Jews of Ethiopia back to Israel

Moses was the national leader of the Israelites. Moses was ordered by God to lead the enslaved Israelites to flee ancient Egypt and travel to a fertile land of Canaan, where they had endured more than 40 years of arduous trekking, and died at the age of 120 when they reached their destination. In 1984, Israel launched Operation Moses.

One night in October 1981, two Israeli Navy missile boats, The Reschev and Koshev, secretly arrived off the coast of Sudan. Navy Florilla 13 commandos disembarked from the missile boat, rode in a rubber boat, and placed radar echo reflectors in the reef along the way to mark a safe path from the water to the shore. The task was not easy, as the entire beach was covered with coral reefs and the Sudan was an enemy state of Israel, and commandos had to be careful when carrying out the task. The commandos, whose purpose was to mark safe passage from the beach to the boat, managed to find four paths to assist in their final mission: to bring Jews from Ethiopia back to Israel via Sudan.

"Bring back the Jews of Ethiopia!"

The campaign actually began in 1977 when then-Prime Minister Menahem Begin approached the Head of the Mossad, Yitzhak (aka Haka) Hoffy, and told him, "Bring back the Jews of Ethiopia!" "Begin is well aware that the regime of the Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam is unstable, an ancient and legendary Jewish community that strictly adheres to Jewish teachings and has lived on African soil for many years, but their lives are so difficult that they are desperate to return to their homeland. Mossad agents were called upon to carry out this task. At first, a small group of Jews returned to Israel via Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, but Mengistu soon closed the exit route. An exciting plan was then conceived, "upwards" (hebrew) to Jerusalem, and thousands of Jews of Ethiopian descent embarked on a journey to neighboring Sudan. This path could cost thousands of lives, because on such a long, long journey they will be looted by thieves, attacked by wild beasts, threatened with hunger and disease, and so on. This path may also become a legend of hardship and heroic triumph. After they arrive in Sudan, most of them are left to live in refugee camps, where they must conceal their identities from the local government and other refugees to ensure safety. The Mossad sent a large number of agents who hid themselves in various identities and transferred as many Jews as possible from the sultan. Through Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Betin asked Sudanese President Caafar Nimeiry to turn a blind eye to Jews of Ethiopian descent who were preparing to flee Sudan. Nimeri agreed, but only if it was exchanged for a lot of money. Despite this, only a few Jews left Sudan as true or false, and most Jews still lived in harsh refugee camps. So the Israelis came up with another plan: with the assistance of the Israel Defense Forces, the Navy Eboille, the 13 Commandos and the Mossad agents, the Jews were transferred by sea out of the Sultan, and the Mossad agents Yonatan, Yonatan Shefa, Eamnsived Alps, etc. bought a seaside resort called "Arus", which was a diving and leisure center for European tourists during the day. At night, resort employees would drive dilapidated trucks to secret locations hundreds of miles away to pick up Jews. And send them to the beach. This operation, as well as other Mossad operations in Sudan at the time, was carried out by Dames Limos, a young, courageous blonde Mossad agent in a small bowler hat.

On November 8, 1981, a civilian ship named "Bat Galim" ("Daughter of the Waves") left the port of Rattle with the commander of the army, Major Eam Buhris, as well as medical facilities, a combat galley and 400 beds. Also on board were two Swallow assault boats of the Navy's RadII.a13 commando, as well as nine storm boats, and the Mossad named the operation "Brotherly Operation" ——— a veritable code name, because Ethiopian Jews were their brothers.

On November 11, the "Daughter of the Waves" arrived at her destination. Night. Numerous Jews hid in tarp-covered trucks and after hours of bumps, came to the seashore. Along the way, they risked being intercepted by the Sudanese army at any time, and even broke through several Sudanese army checkpoints. These Jews were exhausted after a long journey, and some were carried to rubber boats to board boats because they were too frightened. Many of them have never seen the sea, and some even want to quench their thirst with seawater. On deck, the Israelites distributed bread, jam, and hot tea to their fellow Jews. To soothe their emotions, Israelis encouraged choruses and showed movies, many of whom saw them for the first time in their lives. Two and a half days later, the "Daughter of the Waves" carrying 164 Jewish immigrants arrived at the port of Sharm El Sheikh in Sinai. After arriving at the port, the "Daughter of the Waves" set off for Sudan in January 1982 after a short rest, where she received a second group of 351 Ethiopian Jews. The third transfer took place in March 1982 and nearly caused a catastrophe: one of the rubber boats carrying 4 Mossad agents ran aground on the coral reef beach, just when several Sudanese soldiers armed with Kalashnikov submachine guns appeared, pointing guns at the Mossad agents. Fortunately, the commander of the operation reacted quickly, and he yelled at the Sultan soldiers in exasperation: "Are you crazy? Are you going to shoot unarmed tourists? Didn't you see that we were organizing a night diving expedition? We are employees of the Ministry of Tourism, and we have worked hard to organize tourists to come to Sudan, but are you going to shoot them? You fools don't deserve to be officers at all. One of the Commanders of the Sudanese soldiers, who spoke English, apologized to the Mossad agents and left with the soldiers. But they are really looking for stowaways. The "Daughter of the Waves" successfully brought back 172 people this time. Despite the thrill of the incident, it was clear that the approach was too risky, and Israel needed to find a more secure way to transfer Jewish immigrants.

One morning, the resort's visitors suddenly noticed that the rest of the staff had disappeared en masse, except for the local staff. The "guides" (actually Mossad agents) left a letter of apology to the tourists, saying that the resort had to be closed due to operational problems. Tourists had to leave, but when they returned to their respective countries, they received a full refund.

At this time, another method of transferring Jewish immigrants was being negotiated in Israel, that is, the use of air force Hercules aircraft (the famous Rhino). Mossad agents spotted an abandoned British airfield south of Port Sudan, and a small group of air forces arrived early to fix the tarmac and illuminate the runway with special torches. Mossad agents picked up the Jews from the secret rendezvous point and drove them to the tarmac to board the Rhinoceros. However, when the plane landed, many Ethiopian Jews saw this large iron monster roaring and flying towards themselves, and they were frightened, and many even tried to escape. After some painstaking exhortation and persuasion, about 213 Jews arrived in Israel by plane.

The Air Force and the Mossad have learned a lesson from the incident: The next time the plane lands, the boarding platform can be opened beforehand, and the truck carrying the migrants can let people directly into the belly of the "Hercules" plane, rather than let them see the behemoth crashing down the runway towards them.

Unfortunately, both the airport and the operation were discovered by the Sudanese authorities. However, Mossad agents found another tarmac 46 kilometres from Port Sudan. The Israeli government immediately decided to transfer Jews with 7 "big rhinos", each of which could carry about 200 people. In charge of the operation was Brigadier General Amos Yaron, chief of the Mossad and sergeant major paratroopers. The campaign continued from 1982 to 1984, during which time some 1,500 people successfully immigrated to Israel.

On the eve of each transfer flight, trucks would take Jews to the tarmac and illuminate the boarding area with lights. The "Big Rhinoceros" flying from Israel landed along the runway, made a U-turn and opened the tail boarding platform. The Air Force Kingfisher commandos stand in two rows on the road leading to the boarding platform, forming a funnel shape. After the truck arrives, people walk in the "funnel" until they sit on the ground after entering the belly of the plane, and many people do not even feel that they are already on the plane.

During a transfer mission, a respected Kess (religious and social leader) rose from the ground and asked who was the senior official in charge of the mission. The crew brought him to Air Force Brigadier General Avihu Bennham. Slowly, solemnly, and ritualically, Kes took an ancient sword from his waist and pointed it at Mother Benna, saying, "I have always been in charge of the fate of these people. He said as he pointed to his people in the cabin, "Now, I have handed them over to you." With that, he handed the sword to Bennam, who was already too excited to speak.

At the end of 1984, the political situation in sudan was deteriorating, and humanitarian relief was urgently needed in the country. Israel used the opportunity to turn to the United States for help, hoping that the United States would come to the aid of Sudan in exchange for Jewish immigrants. Then Vice President George Bush immediately agreed to the plan, instructing the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum to negotiate the terms with then-Sudanese President Timery Nimeri. The outcome of the negotiations was satisfactory: the Sudan agreed that Jews of Ethiopian origin should leave the Sudan by plane, provided that they could not fly directly to Israel and had to pass through a third country. The Mossad found a small Belgian airline operated by Jews and launched Operation Moses: Over 47 days, Belgian Boeing aircraft completed 36 flights and transferred 7,800 Jews back to Israel.

After the Israeli leader revealed the news to the world media, Nimeri terminated the cooperation operation. But the U.S. government did not give up, and they sent seven U.S. Air Force Hercules aircraft to The Sultan's Cadarif to carry out Operation Sheba. U.S. planes sent the remaining 500 Jews from Sudan directly to the Mitzpeh Ramon air base in Israel. It was a representative effort by the Israeli Air Force and the U.S. Air Force to work closely together and to demonstrate the common goal of both sides – to save Jews from Ethiopia.

Despite the success of both Operation Moses and Operation Queen of Sheba, there are still thousands of Jews in Ethiopia waiting to leave. During these transfers, many families were separated from each other, many children arrived in Israel without being able to find their parents, and many parents arrived in Israel while the children remained in Ethiopia. This situation has led to many difficulties and even tragedies in the integration of many Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society. At that time, a deadly civil war broke out in Ethiopia, and the lives of Jews who could not leave were shrouded in gloom. Countless Mossad agents and Jewish agencies have concentrated thousands of Jews in makeshift refugee camps in Addis Ababa, waiting for a miracle (to be continued).