Yom Yerushalayim: From Ethiopia To Jerusalem

By: Moshe Phillips

“We’ve been dreaming of Jerusalem for many years. We’re the generation that fulfilled that dream. It shows the sacrifice that was there—the risks that were taken—the desire to get to Jerusalem at all costs.”

— Shay Yasso, an Israeli born in Ethiopia, rescued by the Mossad as a child

Since October 7, the claim that Israel is a racist state and that Zionism is a racist ideology has become a near-daily lie at anti-Israel rallies. But few recent films have done more to debunk that narrative than the popular Netflix drama The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019), starring Chris Evans and Ben Kingsley. The film dramatizes a remarkable and true story: a covert 1984–1985 operation in which Israeli Mossad agents and the IDF rescued thousands of Ethiopian Jews from refugee camps in Sudan.

These Ethiopian Jews had fled a devastating famine and a violent Marxist insurgency that left over a million dead in Ethiopia. Sudan, too, was embroiled in civil war. Amid this chaos, Israel launched “Operation Moses”—a daring mission to bring its people home. Between 6,500 and 8,000 Jews were smuggled out of East Africa and flown to freedom in the Jewish state.

The film concludes with authentic news footage of Ethiopian Jews arriving in Israel, many bending down to kiss the tarmac in celebration—a moving scene that captures the fulfillment of a 2,000-year-old dream.

But there is more to this story. Much more.

The IDF airlift was not only historic—it is a reminder, now more than ever, of what Zionism truly represents.

It was Prime Minister Menachem Begin who tasked the Mossad with rescuing Ethiopian Jewry. The effort continued under Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres, but it was Begin who launched it. Just as he had opened Israel’s doors to non-Jewish Vietnamese boat people in 1977. Begin’s commitment to human dignity, regardless of race, reflected the teachings of his mentor, the great Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

Begin once compared the plight of the Vietnamese refugees to that of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, referencing the infamous case of the St. Louis:

“We never forgot the boat with 900 Jews, the St. Louis, which left Germany in the final weeks before the Second World War… traveling from harbor to harbor, from country to country, crying out for refuge. They were refused… Therefore, it was natural to give those people a haven in the Land of Israel.”

The rescue of Ethiopian Jews was not just about providing safety—it was about coming home. Israel is not merely a refuge; it is the homeland of the Jewish people. A place where Jewish destiny is shaped by Jews themselves, for the good of Jews everywhere.

Today, Israelis of Ethiopian descent serve as cabinet ministers and Knesset members in Jerusalem, ambassadors, and community leaders. This is Zionism. This is the realization of a centuries-old hope. By 2010, over 110,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent had made their home in Israel. Now the community is estimated at over 160,000.

Long before the phrase “Black Lives Matter” became a global rallying cry, Menachem Begin, the Mossad, and the IDF acted on the belief that Black Jewish lives mattered—and they risked everything to prove it.

The charge that Israel is a racist state is not only false—it is a dangerous and damaging lie.

What other nation in history has gone into Africa not to exploit, colonize, or enslave—but to bring Africans out to freedom, safety, and honor? Israel did. And, as The Red Sea Diving Resort reveals, the U.S. government played a supporting role.

Daniel Sahalo, an Ethiopian Jew and historical consultant for the film, told Time Magazine that Mossad agents “risked their lives every day for almost three years.” That is Zionism. That is Israel. A brother being responsible for a brother. It is beautiful. And it is eternal—just like the Jewish people’s bond with Jerusalem.

Happy Yom Yerushalayim!

[Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.]