From Tragedy to Triumph: The Politics Behind the Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry

(Hardback)

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The complete story of the dramatic Israeli rescue of thousands of Ethiopian Jews. From 1984 to 1991, Israel conducted a series of dramatic rescues, bringing thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the state of Israel. Codenamed Operation Sheba, this effort involved various covert means, including large-scale airlifts and exchanges for arms, to save these Jews from intolerable conditions in Ethiopia and the Sudan. But as dramatic and uplifting as this effort was, there are still troubling questions about why it took so many years for Israel to act on behalf its African compatriots. This is the complete story behind the Israeli rescue of the Jews of Ethiopia--how tragedy was turned into triumph. These rescue operations represented the culmination of complex political maneuvering in Israel and illustrated what Israeli resolve can accomplish when Jewish lives are endangered. It was an inspiring effort--as William Safire wrote at the time, "thousands of black people are being brought to a country not as slaves, but as citizens." On the other hand, there is much to deplore how long it took for the leaders of Israel to recognize and take action to save this ancient African branch of the Jewish Diaspora, known as the Falasha. The reasons are the result of the complex intersection of Israeli geostrategy, pressure from the American Jewish community, and Ethiopian domestic politics, as well as racism and debates about the "Jewishness" of the Falasha community.

Reviews

.,."Bard objectively analyzes the varying motives and fairly assesses the different contributions of the US and Israeli governments, their public officials, and private organizations and persons who frequently disagreed about the actual physical situation and religious identity of the Beta Israel in Ethiopia, and what to do about all of this in a time of frequent strife and famine in the Horn of Africa. General and undergraduate collections."-Choice
...Bard objectively analyzes the varying motives and fairly assesses the different contributions of the US and Israeli governments, their public officials, and private organizations and persons who frequently disagreed about the actual physical situation and religious identity of the Beta Israel in Ethiopia, and what to do about all of this in a time of frequent strife and famine in the Horn of Africa. General and undergraduate collections.-Choice
From 1984 to 1991, Israel conducted a series of dramatic rescues, bringing thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the state of Israel from intolerable conditions in Ethiopia and the Sudan. Nonetheless, there is much to deplore in how long it took for the leaders of Israel to recognize and take action to save these Jews known as Falasha. This book gives the story behind the rescue.-SHOFAR
"From 1984 to 1991, Israel conducted a series of dramatic rescues, bringing thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the state of Israel from intolerable conditions in Ethiopia and the Sudan. Nonetheless, there is much to deplore in how long it took for the leaders of Israel to recognize and take action to save these Jews known as Falasha. This book gives the story behind the rescue."-SHOFAR
..."Bard objectively analyzes the varying motives and fairly assesses the different contributions of the US and Israeli governments, their public officials, and private organizations and persons who frequently disagreed about the actual physical situation and religious identity of the Beta Israel in Ethiopia, and what to do about all of this in a time of frequent strife and famine in the Horn of Africa. General and undergraduate collections."-Choice

Author Bio

MITCHELL G. BARD is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and a foreign policy analyst who lectures frequently on U.S.-Middle East Policy.