In 1991, Ethiopia was coming to the end of a long civil war and the government was close to being toppled.
Israel was concerned for the ancient community of Ethiopian Jews and did a deal with the tottering regime to airlift thousands of people out of the country.
The Israelis gave less than two days to carry out Operation Solomon. During that time, they flew more than 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. One of them was Daniel Nadawo, who was 11 at the time.
He spoke to Witness about that day.
In 1991, Jews evacuated from Ethiopia in a cargo 747 without seats. They say that 1086 people boarded and 1088 deplaned due to two births onboard. The operation called “Operation Solomon” and involved 34 Israeli aircraft. It became known for its audacious execution, successfully airlifting 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel over 36 hours.
