From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of by Mitchell G. Bard
By Mitchell G. Bard
From 1984 to 1991, Israel performed a chain of dramatic rescues, bringing hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the nation of Israel. Codenamed Operation Sheba, this attempt concerned a variety of covert skill, together with large-scale airlifts and exchanges for hands, to save lots of those Jews from insupportable stipulations in Ethiopia and the Sudan. yet as dramatic and uplifting as this attempt used to be, there are nonetheless troubling questions about why it took such a lot of years for Israel to behave on behalf its African compatriots. this can be the whole tale in the back of the Israeli rescue of the Jews of Ethiopia―how tragedy was once changed into triumph.
These rescue operations represented the fruits of complicated political maneuvering in Israel and illustrated what Israeli unravel can accomplish while Jewish lives are endangered. It was once an inspiring effort―as William Safire wrote on the time, millions of black everyone is being dropped at a rustic now not as slaves, yet as voters. nonetheless, there's a lot to deplore how lengthy it took for the leaders of Israel to acknowledge and take motion to avoid wasting this historic African department of the Jewish Diaspora, referred to as the Falasha. the explanations are the results of the complicated intersection of Israeli geostrategy, strain from the yank Jewish neighborhood, and Ethiopian family politics, in addition to racism and debates concerning the Jewishness of the Falasha community.
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Additional resources for From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry
Example text
In December 1960, when Selassie was visiting Brazil, a coup was attempted in Ethiopia. On December 14, supporters of the emperor sent out signals to alert the Israelis. 17 Despite the alliance, official diplomatic relations were kept in a low profile until May 1962, when the emperor announced that the Israeli consulate would be upgraded to an embassy. Prior to that, Selassie was hesitant to associate openly with Israel. One of the main reasons for Ethiopia’s reluctance to establish ties with Israel related to the need for Arab votes in the United Nations.
18. Yehuda Dominitz, interview with author. 19. Moshe Bar-Yehuda, interview with author. 20. Aryeh Newman, “A Lost Tribe Returns,” Brooklyn Jewish Center Review (March 1957): 6, 23. 21. Bar-Yehuda, interview. 22. David Kessler, The Falashas (NY: Holmes and Meier, 1982), pp. 150–151; Bogale memo, March 8, 1977. 23. Robin Gilbert, “Report on Visit to Ethiopia” (ORT, March 20, 1959), p. 4. 24. , p. 6. 25. , pp. 7–8. 26. Norman Bentwich, “Report on Falashas,” February 1961. 27. Debetra Gothe Assress and Andargeh Tegabeh appeal to Emperor Lenhoff Archive.
3 POLITICS NOT CHARITY While Israeli leaders have always had philanthropic attitudes toward Africa, their primary interest in the continent rested on the more tangible grounds of realpolitik. Just as Africa was the scene of a battle of influence among the superpowers, so too has it been a battlefield between Israel and the Arabs. This battlefield was particularly important during Israel’s first two decades because the United States had not yet proven itself a reliable ally nor for that matter had the Soviet Union established itself as the guarantor of its clients in the Arab world.