Operation Yachin

After Morocco's independence in 1956 Jewish emigration was banned, and Israel's Mossad ran a clandestine network, the Misgeret, that smuggled Jews out. In January 1961 the Egoz, a small boat carrying emigrants, sank off the northern coast and 44 Jews drowned, drawing international attention. Talks with the new king, Hassan II, followed: in exchange for payments channeled through the American organization HIAS, Morocco quietly allowed organized departures. Between November 1961 and spring 1964 about 97,000 Jews left, by ship and plane via Europe.

The operation was named for Yachin, one of the two bronze pillars at the entrance of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 7:21), and the Egoz victims were later reburied on Mount Herzl. Moroccan Jews, the largest North African community, went on to shape Israel's development towns, politics, music and religious life, and their Mimouna celebration at the end of Passover became a national festivity.