Operation Solomon

Operation Solomon
An abandoned synagogue in a Jewish village which became a tourist attraction after desertion of its inhabitants in 1991. No rural Jewish communities remained in Ethiopia after the transfer operation to Addis Ababa that had taken place between 1988 and 1991.
Location	Ethiopia–Israel
Planned by	Israeli government and Israeli Defense Forces
Objective	To airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel
Date	24 May 1991 (1991-05-24)
Outcome	Transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours

Operation Solomon (Hebrew: מבצע שלמה, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation from May 24 to 25, 1991, to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel.^[1] 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.^[2][3] One of the aircraft, an El Al 747, carried at least 1,088 people, including two babies who were born on the flight, and holds the world record for the most passengers on an aircraft.^[4] Eight children were born during the airlift process.^[5]

It was the third Aliyah mission from Ethiopia to Israel. Before the mission, there were two similar operations called Operation Moses and Operation Joshua, which were the alternative ways that Ethiopian Jews could leave before they were forced to put an end to these type of programs. In between the time when these operations came to an end and Operation Solomon began, a very small number of Ethiopian Jews were able to leave and go to Israel.^[3]