In 1949,  50,000 Jews made aliyah from Yemen via airlift from the city of Aden, in an operation that has come to be known as “On Eagles’ Wings.”  The name of this aliyah was derived from the Book of Exodus, 19:4, where it is written “…and I will transport you on eagles’ wings and bring you to me…”  The airlift is also known as “Operation Magic Carpet.”

Primary Motivations

The ancient Yemenite Jewish community always maintained ties to the Jews in the Land of Israel.  At the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, there were some 50,000 Jews in Yemen living in dozens of villages, cities, and towns.  The establishment of the State Israel on Hay Iyar 5708 (May 14, 1948), endangered many Jewish communities in Arab countries, including Yemen.  In order to assist them, the State of Israel began to organize rescue operations to bring them to Israel.  When, in 1949, the Imam of Yemen agreed to allow Jews to leave his country, this gave a green light for the beginning of a massive operation to bring the Jews to Israel.   This operation brought thousands of Yemenite Jews to Israel within a very short period of time.  It was necessary to airlift them quickly out of fears that the Imam would shortly rescind his permission.  Since there are no land links between Israel and Yemen it was necessary to transport all of the immigrants by air.

The Immigrants and their Journey

The immigrants were centralized in an encampment next to the city of Aden which was nicknamed “Geula,” (redemption). Within a short period of time thousands of people had joined the camp, traveling in numerous risky and dangerous ways from their communities throughout Yemen.  Many made the journey on foot or on donkeys, vulnerable to robbers as well as the hostility of the local population along the way.   A small number of aliyah shalichim who had managed to get inside of Yemen were only able to assist a few people, and then only once they had reached the environs of Aden, from whence the shalichim were able to arrange for transport to the Geula encampment.

Organization of the mission was extremely complicated due both to the lack of any reliable information on the exact number of Jews in Yemen, as well as because of the large number of persons already moving towards the encampment.  Organizers also lacked information about the numbers and condition of people already in the encampment.  All this was exacerbated by the need for secrecy due to fear of the authorities and the hostility of the local population, as well as concerns that other Muslim countries would raise objections if information reached them about the operation.

In the summer of 1949, the stream of people arriving at the Geula encampment increased dramatically, and a camp that had previously housed fewer than 1000 people suddenly had to accommodate some 31,000 people.   Medical personnel in the encampment reported worrying findings during medical examinations of the immigrants, and claimed that the situation in the encampment was approaching the point of catastrophe.

In light of the crisis situation in the encampment, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, among others involved in the operation, gave instructions to speed up the rate of aliyah from Yemen, and from September 1949 approximately 500 Jews arrived daily. By the end of 1949 some 35,000 Yemenite Jews had made aliyah, and the influx continued during the following months. The final flight of “Operation Magic Carpet” arrived in September, 1950.  A total of 50,000 Yemenite Jews had made aliyah, almost the entire ancient Yemenite community.