Operation Solomon
| Operation Solomon | |
|---|---|
_-_Ethiopian_immigrants_coming_off_a_Boeing_jet.jpg) Ethiopian Jews disembarking from a jet plane at an Israeli Air Force base, 24 May 1991 |
|
| Location |
Ethiopia-Israel |
| Planned by | Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces |
| Objective | To airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel |
| Outcome | Transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours |
Operation Solomon (Hebrew: מבצע שלמה, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1991. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours.
In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the military successes of Eritrean and Tigrean rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous political destabilization. World Jewish organizations and Israel were concerned about the well-being of the Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, residing in Ethiopia. Also, the Mengistu regime had made mass emigration difficult for Beta Israel and the regime's dwindling power presented an opportunity for those wanting to immigrate to Israel. In 1990, the Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces, aware of Mengistu's worsening political situation, made covert plans to airlift the Jews to Israel. The American government was involved in the organization of the airlift. The decision of the Ethiopian government to allow all the Jews to leave the country at once was largely motivated by a letter from President George H. W. Bush. Previous to this, Mengistu intended to allow emigration only in exchange for weaponry.
Also involved in the Israeli and Ethiopian governments’ attempts to facilitate the operation was a group of American diplomats led by Senator Rudy Boschwitz, including Irvin Hicks, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Robert Frasure, the Director of the African Affairs at the White House National Security Council; and Robert Houdek the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa. Boschwitz had been sent as a special emissary of President Bush, and he and his team met with the government of Ethiopia to aid Israel in the arranging of the airlift. In addition, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Hank Cohen also played an important role, as he was the international mediator of the civil war in Ethiopia. In response to the efforts of the diplomats, acting President of Ethiopia Tesfaye Gebre-Kidan made the ultimate decision to allow the airlift. The negotiations surrounding the operation led to the eventual London roundtable discussions, which established a joint declaration by the Ethiopian combatants who then agreed to organize a conference to select a transitional government.
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