Israel will do whatever it takes to protect her people

Israel will do whatever it takes to protect her people

Ever heard of Operation Magic Carpet?

In May 1949, the country of Yemen allowed the majority of its Jewish population to leave but Yemen refused permission for the flights to take off from its territory. Israel immediately jumped into action, launching Operation on Wings of Eagles, a covert airlift operation to bring tens of thousands of Yemeni Jews to their new home in Israel.

The operation’s official name originated from Scripture: “You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4).

During the operation, nicknamed Operation Magic Carpet, some 49,000 Yemeni Jews, mostly children, were airlifted to Israel from Yemen, Aden, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Saudi Arabia. The mission was secret and only revealed to the media after it was completed.

Although the huge waves of immigration during this period of Israel’s history put a strain on its extremely limited budget, Israel was willing to do whatever was necessary to bring any Jew who wanted to start fresh in the fledgling Jewish state to Israel – a commitment, as the video below shows, that has not changed decades later.

Today, as Israel fights against Hamas terrorists, the Jewish state continues to do its utmost to protect its people. Find out how you can help make Israel more secure and her people safer by visiting cufi.org/warroom.

ACTION STEP

Learn more about Israel’s rescue of Ethiopian Jews in this episode of the CUFI Weekly.

Find out more about the Jewish connection to the land of Israel in CUFI’s Primer: “Continuous Jewish Presence in the Land of Israel.”