Operation Moses
Operation Moses tells the true story behind the emergency evacuation of the Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) to Israel between 1977 and 1985.
This almost miraculous deliverance from a war-torn and famine stricken continent was accompanied by a massive yet avoidable loss of lives, and the enforced separation of families and children from their parents.
As the then pro-Soviet Ethiopian regime forbade its Jews to leave, many thousands were hastily encouraged to flee to Sudan, from where they were to be airlifted to Israel. But Sudan was a Muslim country under Sharia Law, where Jews were in danger of their lives.
Organized by the IDF, the CIA, Sudanese security forces, and a cast of less-savoury characters and governments, and financed in part by American philanthropists, this secret rescue mission succeeded in bringing as many as 8,000 Ethiopian Jews home to Israel. An estimated 4,000, however, died on the way, and another 1,000 were left behind to be rescued later.
