A celebration of four decades since the first Israeli operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews and bring them to the holy land was held by the government in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer praised the Israeli Ethiopian community for their contributions to the country as government officials, community members, and Mossad officials commemorated the 1984 Operation Moses.
Sofer said that Operation Moses was a major asset in immigration to Israel, coming to fruition through the righteousness, sense of responsibility, and creativity of IDF soldiers, Mossad agents, Jewish Agency personnel, and the immigrants themselves.
Following the flight of Ethiopians from famine and the Ethiopian Civil War, almost 8,000 Jews were flown in secret from Sudan to Israel over several weeks.
Hundreds died from attacks and disease over the march of hundreds of kilometers over difficult terrain and conditions.
According to the Immigration Ministry, about 3,073 were rescued in the operation. Many were minors, with a third being children under the age of ten and another quarter being ages 11 to 20. Only 4% of those rescued were over the age of 71 at the time.
Veterans of Operation Moses
According to the Immigration Ministry, 6,617 of the Operation Moses veterans still live in Israel today and have given birth to 7,645 children.
One of the most common names given to the children was that shared by the great Jewish lawgiver and the operation that brought them to Israel. Another popular name was that of their new home -- Israel.
The city with the most Operation Moses migrants was Netanya, followed by Petah Tikvah, Ashkelon, and Hadera.
Netanyahu noted that the celebration came as Ethiopian Israel hostage Avraham Mengistu was freed from over a decade in Hamas captivity.
"Thanks to the military pressure we exerted on Hamas, and with the important support of President ]Donald] Trump, we were able to bring home many hostages, Avraham among them," said Netanyahu.
'We have always believed, we have always stood by our goal. And, thank God, we succeeded. Avraham is with us again, and we will help him and the rest of the hostages returning to Israel to help them rehabilitate and return to life as free people in our country. This is an event of freedom that almost touched this date of the 40th anniversary of 'Operation Moses,' a great event of freedom, of coming out of slavery to redemption."
The effect of October 7 on the Israeli Ethiopian community
The Aliyah Ministry shared that 33 members of the Israeli Ethiopian community had died since the October 7 Massacre, some of them falling in battle against Gazan terrorist organizations.
Netanyahu said that the Ethiopian community was heroic for taking their place on the front lines defending Israel.
Sofer said, "The story of the Ethiopian community is the story of all Israeli society."
"The second and third generations are on the front lines of the war, leading the ranks of the IDF, catapulting the Israeli economy forward and symbolizing the uniqueness of Israeli society -- a story that has no equal in the history of nations, which is the source of the strength of the State of Israel and the unimaginable vision of the return to Zion," said the minister.
Netanyahu swore to continue the advancement of Ethiopians in the Jewish state and to fight against discrimination and racism.
"We will continue to spread the wonderful Zionist story of the Beta Israel community," said the prime minister.