Operation Solomon

In May 1991, as rebel forces closed in on Addis Ababa and dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam fled the country, Israel feared for the roughly 14,000 Jews gathered in the capital awaiting emigration. After Israel paid the collapsing regime about $35 million, some 35 Israeli aircraft, El Al jets and air force C-130s with their seats removed, flew nonstop shuttles on 24–25 May and brought 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in about 36 hours.

One El Al Boeing 747 carried more than 1,080 passengers, a world record for a single flight, and several babies were born during the flights. Together with Operation Moses, Operation Solomon brought most of the Beta Israel community, which had kept its Jewish traditions in Ethiopia for centuries and prayed toward Jerusalem, to Israel. The community now numbers more than 160,000, and its Sigd festival, held 50 days after Yom Kippur, became an Israeli national holiday in 2008.