Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish immigration in 1962

In recent years, Israel’s secret activities in Ethiopia and Yemen have been examined. This article presents, for the first time, a covert operation in which Israel enabled Yemeni Jews to immigrate through British Aden, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. It demonstrates that the broader Israeli activity in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular was associated with clandestine activity in Yemen. Because of the secrecy of the operation in the 1960s, these events were not known until now. This article reveals the identities of those who were involved in the operation, the background of the immigrants who set out on the difficult journey, and the Arab and Jewish emissaries who acted in secret to assure its success.