M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 YEMEN, ETHIOPIA, ERITREA AND ISRAEL: JEWISH IMMIGRATION IN 1962 Menashe Anzi1 (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Summary In recent years, Israel’s secret activities in Ethiopia and Yemen have been examined. This article presents, for the first time, a covert operation in which Israel enabled Yemeni Jews to immigrate through British Aden, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. It demonstrates that the broader Israeli activity in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular was associated with clandestine activity in Yemen. Because of the secrecy of the operation in the 1960s, these events were not known until now. This article reveals the identities of those who were involved in the operation, the background of the immigrants who set out on the difficult journey, and the Arab and Jewish emissaries who acted in secret to assure its success. Résumé Les activités souterraines d’Israël en Éthiopie et au Yémen ont fait l’objet d’études, ces dernières années. Pour la première fois, est présentée ici une opération sous couverture dans laquelle Israël a permis aux Juifs yéménites d’immigrer via l’Aden britannique et l’Éthiopie. Il y est montré que la stratégie israélienne en Afrique en général et en Éthiopie en particulier a été relayée par une aide clandestine au Yémen. Du fait du caractère secret de l’opération dans les années 1960, ces événements sont demeurés inconnus jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Cet article révèle l’identité de ceux qui participèrent à ces opérations, des immigrants qui entreprirent ce difficile périple et des émissaires arabes ou juifs qui agirent secrètement afin d’en assurer le succès. ‫خالصة‬ ،‫ ألول مرة‬،‫ تكشف هذه املقاةل‬.‫ مت التطرق لنشطة ارسائيل الرسية يف لك من اثيوبيا والمين‬،‫يف الس نوات الخرية‬ ‫ وتكشف‬،‫عن معلية رسية متكنت فهيا ارسائيل من هتجري الهيود المينيني اىل ارسائيل عرب مدينة عدن ومهنا اىل اثيوبيا‬ ‫ واملرتبط بعمليات وأنشطة‬،‫ ويف اثيوبيا عىل وجه اخلصوص‬،‫عن أوجه النشاط الرسائييل الوسع يف أفريقيا بشلك عام‬ ‫ وتكشف هذه‬.‫ مل يمت الفصاح عن هذه ا ألحداث حىت الن‬،‫ وبسبب رسية هذه العملية يف الس تينيات‬.‫رسيه يف المين‬ 1 I started this research project as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University headed by Yaron Harel with the support of the Shʿarey Teman (Yemen Gates) Foundation headed by Michal Daḥōḥ. I completed the research as member of the I-CORE (The Israeli Centers for Research Excellence) “Da’at Hamakom”: Center for the Study of Cultures of Place in the Modern Jewish World. The research was funded by the ISF (The Israel Science Foundation) I-CORE 1798/12. I thank all those who helped in spirit and by providing materials, and the editors who encouraged me to submit this article. CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 121 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 ‫ وعن‬،‫ وخلفية الهيود املهاجرين اذلين انطلقوا يف تكل الرحةل الصعبة‬،‫املقاةل عن هوية أأولئك اذلين شاركوا يف العملية‬ .‫املبعوثني العرب والهيود اذلين معلوا عىل اجناح هذه املهمة وضامن رسيهتا‬ Keywords Yemenite Jews, Jewish immigration, 1962, Jewish Agency, Yemen, Taʿizz, Yarīm, Central Yemen, West of Sanaa, Ḥidān, Barat, Ṣaʿda, Aden, Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Asmara, Massawa, Israel, Ethiopian Airlines, Imam Aḥmad Ḥamīd al-Dīn (r. 1948–1962), El Al Airlines, Yemenite Diaspora Mots-clés Juifs yéménites, immigration juive, 1962, Agence juive, Yémen, Taez, Yarīm, moyens plateaux yéménites, Ouest de Sanaa, Ḥidān, Barat, Ṣaʿda, Aden, Afrique, Éthiopie, Érythrée, Asmara, Massawa, Israël, Ethiopian Airlines, Imam Aḥmad Ḥamīd al-Dīn (r. 1948-1962), El Al Airlines, diaspora yéménite ‫تعبريات رئيس ية‬ ،‫ غرب صنعاء‬،‫ املناطق الوسطى المينية‬،‫ يرمي‬،‫ تعز‬،‫ المين‬،‫ الواكةل الهيودية‬،1962 ،‫ الهجرة الهيودية‬،‫الهيود المينيني‬ ‫ المام أمحد‬،‫ اخلطوط اجلوية الثيوبية‬،‫ ارسائيل‬،‫ مصوع‬،‫ أسرة‬،‫ اريرتي‬،‫ اثيوبيا‬،‫ أفريقيا‬،‫ عدن‬،‫ صعدة‬،‫ برط‬،‫حيدان‬ ‫ الهجرة المينية‬،‫ اخلطوط اجلوية الرسائيلية العال‬،)1962-1948 ‫محيد ادلين (حمك‬ I. Introduction After the mass immigration of the Jews from Yemen to Israel was completed in September 1950, about 2,000 Jews remained in Imamic Yemen. They lived in a few small communities throughout the country under the rule of Imam Aḥmad Ḥamīd al-Dīn (r. 1948–1962). Additionally, there were about 1,000 Jews remaining in Aden under British rule until 1967.2 The major factors that influenced those to stay in Yemen were the economic situation and the difficulties that immigration entailed. Some Jews were opposed to the idea of emigrating for ideological and religious reasons: it meant forcing the end of the exile, and there were rumours coming from Israel claiming that women and children were harmed there, and that the religious observance of immigrants was poor. 3 The remaining Jews were concentrated in three regions—central Yemen, near Taʿizz and Yarīm, the Sanaa region, primarily to the west of the city, and three regions in the North: Ḥidān, Baraṭ and Ṣaʿda. Most of them lived in small communities. But sometimes an individual or an entire family chose to stay in an Arab village.4 2 On the Jews of Yemen, see for example: T. Parfitt, The Road to Redemption, 1996. See Ḥ. Zadok, A Freight of Yemen, 1985, pp. 223–224. 4 See R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001. 3 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 122 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 In general, the communal and religious autonomy of Jews, as well as their established patronage relations as ahl al-ḏimma, were maintained in the 1950s.5 Jews continued to observe religious laws and were able to pray and study in a few remaining synagogues. They paid the head tax, the ǧizya, to the regime and trade relations were generally normal. However, the decrease in the Jewish population in Yemen resulted in an increase in social rapprochement between Jews and Muslims. Muslims moved into the homes of the Jews who had left, which meant that Jews and Muslims lived in closer proximity to one another. Alongside displays of friendship, there were also economic, religious and social conflicts.6 The most prominent example of this complex relationship pertained to the Jewish occupation in the liquor trade. In many cases, Jews sold alcohol to Muslims, despite prohibitions.7 In the 1950s, the small remaining Jewish community continued to provide alcohol to Muslims although some Muslims prepared their own alcohol, while others imported drinks from Aden.8 On the one hand, trade relations brought both communities closer together, and on the other, these relations were the source of tension between the government and the Jews. As a result of these conflicts and others, about ten percent of the Jews chose to convert to Islam, many of them in groups.9 In the years that followed, hundreds of Jews decided to immigrate to Israel. The Jewish Agency, which was the largest Jewish organization that fostered immigration of Jews to Israel, members of the Jewish community in Aden, and the Joint Distribution Committee (or JDC, an American Jewish charity that was dedicated to helping Jews around the world) assisted those who wished to immigrate. Jews left their places of residence and set out in the direction of Aden. After a long journey, they crossed the border of Imamic Yemen and entered the British colony of Aden and its environs. In Aden they were housed in a refugee camp, and after a short, or sometimes long stay, they boarded planes and flew to the State of Israel. The choice to fly from Aden directly to Israel was possible because British Aden maintained open relations with Israel through most of the 1950s. Although Imam Aḥmad was not in official contact with Israel, it is clear that the organization of the immigration movement in the 1950’s was partly based on the On the patronage relations, ḏimma, and the relationship between Jews and Muslims in Yemen, see for example: K. Abū-Jabel, Yahūd al-Yaman, 1999; I. Hollander, Jews and Muslims in Lower Yemen, 2005; M. Anzi, The Jews of Ṣanʿāʾ, 2011; and M.S. Wagner, Jews and Islamic Law, 2015. 6 Interview with Seʿadyah and Yonah Daḥōḥ, December 2015. 7 About this issue see M. Anzi,ٜThe Jews of Ṣanʿāʾ, 2011, pp. 38–40, 224–236. 8 Hārūn Daḥyānī testimony, in: Goitein collection, Ben-Zvi Institute, box 14, notebook 91 and notebook 95 and Wahab al-Shāʿer testimony, in: Goitein collection, Ben-Zvi Institute, box 14, notebook 95 [JudeoArabic]. 9 M. Anzi, “ʿAgunot and Converts to Islam”, 2016, pp. 135–149. 5 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 123 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 Imam’s tacit permission to grant Jews the right to leave his territory and to immigrate to Israel.10 The most prominent cases of large-scale immigration involved the employment of Muslim emissaries in encouraging and facilitating the immigration.11 The distance between the Jews living in Yemen and those in Aden, and the lack of direct communication made it very difficult to help those who wished to immigrate. To a great extent, the success of the immigration of the Jewish communities from Yemen to Israel was dependent on the ability to correspond with and meet these Muslim agents in person. At that time, outside Jews were forbidden from entering Yemen. Consequently, the Jewish Agency chose to employ Arab Muslim emissaries in this Zionist activity.12 For example, by 1953, the representatives of the Jewish Agency had contacted alShaykh Ḥamūd Muḥammad “al-Rubeydī”13, an owner of a transportation company based in Aden, and signed an agreement with his company to bring Yemenite Jews to Aden for a substantial fee. Al-Rubeydī’s assistants, al-Ḥāǧǧ al-Qarīṭī and Māniʿ alʿAwdī,14 attempted to convince and assist Jews who wanted to leave Yemen for Israel. In addition, letters were sent through indirect routes to Yemen to encourage immigration. For example, the Jewish Agency sent letters to the Jewish community of London or to the Israeli Ambassador in London, who forwarded these letters to Yemen. This correspondence, no matter how indirect, made it possible for them to eventually leave Yemen.15 Letters and money were sent through the Muslim emissaries to remote communities in order to facilitate this complex immigration project. Consequently, Jews travelled to Aden, and then were flown out to Israel. This situation, which entailed a journey from Yemen to Aden, and from Aden, on direct flights or ships, to Israel had operated successfully for a decade. This changed in 1959. After that year, some caravans of immigrants from northern Yemen actually N. Sayf al-Kumaym, Muhandis tarḥīl Yahūd al-Yaman, 2006. Reuben Ahroni discussed this phenomenon (R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001; and “Addressing the Plight of the Yemeni Agūnōt”, 2000). It is interesting to compare the model of Muslim assistance in the immigration organization of the 1950s to the recent immigration from Yemen. For example, when a Jewish community from a small village left Yemen for Israel, they were helped by the Jewish Agency, and obviously by Muslims at Sanaa airport. News, CmY 23 (January 2017), <18–19 March 2016>, pp. 5–6 (http://www.cdmy.org/cmy/cmy23.pdf). 12 I will expand on this issue in light of new discoveries elsewhere. 13 In the documents, the name al-Rubaydī appears as “al-Rubeydī”. In this article, I will use the latter spelling. The same holds for variations of some other names in Arabic. I will use the spellings that appear in the original, even though they diverge from the CmY’s standard transliteration conventions, and mark the first occurrence of such names by putting them between quotation marks. Also, some names are transcribed from Judeo-Arabic, others from Hebrew. 14 In some documents, the name al-Qarīṭī appears as al-Qareiṭī, and the name al-ʿAwdī appears as “alʿUdī”. 15 I heard such stories in my interviews with Batyah and Seʿadyah Daḥōḥ, December 2015. 10 11 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 124 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 travelled to Israel by way of Asmara, which was ruled by the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea at that time. In this article, I will describe this new route and explain why the change in the route took place. I elaborate on the sequence of events from 1958 to 1962 and contextualize these events, which have not yet been adequately addressed in the research.16 In order to disclose the affair, I used a variety of sources, among them: the Israeli press, memoirs of immigration activists, documents of the immigrants written in Judeo-Arabic and transcripts of interviews with them. Additionally, I used a very large collection of documents, primarily in Hebrew and other in English and Arabic sources from the Central Zionist Archives (CZA). II. The Immigrant Operations from 1958 to 1960 In 1958, letters arrived in Aden stating that a group of Jews from northern Yemen wanted to leave and needed help organizing the journey to Aden. Unfortunately, the relations with al-Rubeydī’s transportation company, which had handled their transit for five years, had almost come to a complete end that year. Shaykh al-Rubeydī was arrested along with other merchants because of the suspicion that they were involved in the arms trade and apparently, also for their political activities in Aden. Although Meir Aharonee, a member of the Aden community and a Zionist activist, continued to maintain contact with al-Rubeydī, the handling of the Jews’ departure was halted because of his imprisonment. Furthermore, al-Rubeydī’s assistant, al-Qarīṭī, according to the Jewish community of Aden, “almost betrayed him [alRubeydī] and us”. It turned out that al-Qarīṭī had stopped cooperating with the Jewish Agency. All the letters sent through him to Yemen since about 1957 had never reached their destination and were still in his possession.17 Members of the community in Aden contacted another transportation company under the direction of Ḥāǧǧ Ṣalīḥ Miftāḥ, a resident of Ṣaʿda, and his Yemeni representative, Aḥmad al-Qaṣūṣ, a resident of Taʿizz. The parties agreed that Miftāḥ and Qaṣūṣ’s company would receive 180 riyals per head. The contract with them, written in Arabic, was signed on August 28, 1958. The company promised to protect the Jews and their property on the way to Aden, and their payment would be transferred only after the Jews arrived safely in Aden.18 Despite the signing of the agreement with the Miftāḥ company, it became clear that the departure from Ṣaʿda and its environs would be delayed. Initially it was de- 16 Ahroni only briefly referred to these operations, but most were not even mentioned in his book. R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001. 17 CZA S6\6189, Letter from the Aden Community Committee to the Immigration Department of the Jewish Agency, dated September 2, 1958 [Hebrew]. Unless otherwise mentioned, all translations are mine. 18 ٜCZA S6\6189, “Immigration from Yemen 1958”, dated September 2, 1958 [Hebrew]. The letter was attached to the agreement in Arabic and translated into English. CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 125 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 layed because of the holidays, and then because of an outbreak of smallpox. Conflicts within the Jewish communities of Ṣaʿda and the surrounding area also contributed to the delay. In one case, the conflicts led to a legal struggle and one of the parties sought to detain the Jews and even bribed the authorities for hundreds of riyāls.19 The Immigration Department of the Jewish Agency in Israel heard about the delays and repeatedly wrote and urged the activists in Aden to take care of their immigration: “The truth is that we cannot conceal our deep concern and our great fear for the fate of the remnants of our Jewish brothers in the Yemenite exile.”20 After the agreement with the Miftāḥ transportation company was made and alRubeydī became too ill to resume his activities, it was decided to sign a contract with another transport company to handle the emigration of the Jews living in central Yemen. The assumption was that there was a need for local Arab emissaries who knew the specific area where the Jews lived and who could be trusted by both Arabs and Jews there. Miftāḥ’s company dealt with the emigration of Jews from northern Yemen in particular and the second company was supposed to replace al-Rubeydī’s company to transport the Jews from the centre of Yemen to Aden. A contract was signed with Aḥmad Ṣāliḥ al-Saidī, a well-known and well-connected merchant in Yemen and Aden, to transport Yemenite Jews for a substantial fee.21 Following the reorganization of the Arab messengers, letters were sent to all of the remaining Jewish communities to try to convince them once again to leave Yemen. Finally, in February 1959, a group from north Yemen arrived in Aden, under the guidance of Miftāḥ, and stayed in “Bir al-Fadle”, near Shaykh ʿUṯmān.22 The newcomers wrote that they would not board the flight unless someone from Israel whom they knew arrived in Aden to confirm that the situation in Israel was favorable. Rabbi ʿOvadia Yaʿabeṣ from Rosh Haʿyin arrived in Aden at the beginning of April to make assurances to them. Shortly afterwards the plane took off from Aden with twenty-six Northern Yemeni families on board together with two families who had already been waiting for a year in Aden and a group of Adeni Jews.23 This was proof that the new company of Miftāḥ was indeed fulfilling its promises, and that the delay of the departure of the Jews, which had lasted two years, had come to an end and others might have the opportunity to leave. Apparently, the renewal of the immigration project undermined the British Authority, which was deal- A letter was sent by Sālim Chūbanī to his family in Israel on the 4th of Cheshvan 5721 (October 25, 1960) [Hebrew], the Yehuda Weiss collection, Rishon le-Tzion. I thank the Weiss family for allowing me to use the letter, and my brother Itiel Anzi, who sent me a photocopy of it. 20 CZA S6\6189, “Immigration from Yemen 1958”. The letter of Josef Fael of the Immigration Department to Salīm Banin, head of the Aden community, dated December 15, 1958 [Hebrew]. 21 CZA S6\6190, Letter from Salim Banin to Joseph Fael, dated January 12, 1959 [Hebrew]. 22 Compare to R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001, p. 74. 23 CZA S6\6190 [Hebrew]. 19 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 126 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 ing with a rising anti-colonial sentiment. For that reason, they demanded that henceforth the flights would not leave directly from Aden to Israel.24 Later that year, a group of twenty-six Jews from Ānis, headed by Issachar Yanai, received letters from Israel and decided to set out. The case of the Jews of Ānis was particularly interesting since three years earlier about seventy of them had chosen to convert to Islam under the pressure of the local shaykhs.25 The fact that twenty-six Jews from Ānis had decided to go to Israel rather than remaining in Yemen with their new identity as Muslims raised expectations among the organizers of the immigration in Aden and Israel that more “new Muslims” would come to Aden and from there fly to Israel. After a long journey of several months during which some were arrested and others died along the way, the Jews of Ānis managed to cross the border, and arrived on the eve of the Rosh Hashanah festival (September 28, 1959) in Aden and settled in one of the Jewish homes.26 They stayed there for two months, and in November 1959 were flown to “Africa”, that is, to Djibouti and from there to Athens and then to Israel.27 This was the first case of indirect immigration through Africa. III. The Immigrant Operations from 1961 to 1962 In 1960, more Jews arrived in Aden and were housed in the immigrants’ camp at Bir alFadle. In 1961, the groups were flown to Israel.28 Apparently, this immigration was also indirect, through Africa. It seems that the first operation that was launched through Massawa involved thirteen immigrants who arrived in Aden in September 1961 and fourteen immigrants who arrived in January 1962. They were all housed in the Bir al-Fadle camp in Shaykh ʿUṯmān. The twenty-seven immigrants were transferred by plane to Asmara in Eritrea, which was at the time federated with Ethiopia, and from there, they travelled by bus to the Red Sea port of Massawa to board the ship to Israel.29 In March 1962, a convoy of approximately one hundred Jews left North Yemen for Aden. The members of the convoy travelled in three trucks, which were organized 24 So far, I have not found direct evidence for the new order of the British. For now, see R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001, p. 12; N. Sayf al-Kumaym, Muhandis tarḥīl Yahūd al-Yaman, 2006; I. al-Maqḥafī, Muʿaǧam al-buldān, 2011, pp. 19–22. 26 A small group arrived in July and the majority arrived in September. 27 CZA S6\6191 [Hebrew], Y. Aviʿam, “The Heroism Journey in the Desert”, 1959; S. Har-Gil, “The Adventures’ Road of Immigrants from the Desert”, 1959. Compare to R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001, p. 76. 28 Unfortunately, so far, I have only been able to find incomplete information about these groups, and I hope that I will be able to elaborate on this issue in the future. 29 CZA S6\10013, S1\4935 [Hebrew]. 25 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 127 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 by Ṣalīḥ Miftāḥ and called, according to one letter, “Righteous Among the Nations”.30 Two weeks later, on April 11, 1962, they arrived in Aden and were housed in a refugee camp. About a month and a half later, they were taken by plane to Asmara, continued by bus to Massawa, and from there they sailed by ship and reached the port of Eilat in Israel.31 Finally, on July 31, 1962, a group of about one hundred people from Ǧabal ʿAmr and the surrounding area arrived in Aden under the supervision of the Arab emissaries Aḥmad Ṣāliḥ al-Saidī and Māniʿ al-ʿAwdī.32. Like the previous groups, they were hosted in the Bir al-Fadle camp.33 Ṣāliḥ ʿUmaysī, a Yemenite Jew who lived in Aden and worked for the Jewish Agency, took care of all of their needs.34 The members of the group described his hospitality in a letter in Judeo-Arabic, “All we want from him is sent to us” [“ūma nurīd minho maṭlūb irsal lane”].35 In mid-August, they were flown by plane to Asmara, and hosted for two weeks in that city. 36 They were then driven by bus to Massawa, and from there they sailed by ship to the port of Eilat in Israel.37 This was the last group of Jews who left Imamic Yemen. In August 1962, a revolution broke out in Yemen and for political reasons the gates were closed. The rest of the Jews remained in Yemen until 1990 and beyond. However, Jews from the city of Aden, which was under control of Britain, continued to leave the country. In November 1962, a group left Aden and immigrated to Israel via Asmara. A year later, another group of forty-seven immigrants came to Israel.38 In my opinion, three main factors led to the change in the situation and the decision to travel through Ethiopia and Eritrea: clearly, the situation had worsened in Aden making it an unsafe place for Jews to wait for transfer. Second, the availability of assistance from the Jewish community of Ethiopia and Eritrea had increased. Third, the relationship between Ethiopia and Israel had become stronger. The following sections explore these reasons in greater detail. A letter sent by Sālim Chubanī to his family in Israel on the 4th of Cheshvan 5721 (October 25, 1960), the Yehuda Weiss Collection, Rishon le-Tzion [Hebrew]. 31 ٜ Based on Moshe Argi’s description, see: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4211673,00.html [Hebrew]. 32 Interview with Seʿadyah and Yonah Daḥōḥ, December 2015 and interview with Yiḥye Efraim Yaʿacov, February 2018. 33 CZA S1\4935. 34 CZA S1\4935. 35 A letter from “Ǧamīaʿ al-Yahūd” (“All the Jews”) to Avraham Yehudah, Private collection of Daḥōḥ family, Rishon le-Tzion [Judeo-Arabic]. 36 See for example CZA S1\4936, “Expenses in Asmara… from August 16th to August 31th 1962”. 37 Compare to R. Ahroni, Jewish Emigration from the Yemen, 2001, pp. 77–78. 38 CZA S65\197, Letter from Shalom Ḥamani to Shlomo Zalman Shragai, the head of Immigration Department at the Jewish Agency, dated September 30, 1963, “Immigration and Absorption 1961–1964” [Hebrew]. 30 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 128 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 IV. The situation in Aden In the first half of the twentieth century, Aden had become a central port in the British Empire, connected to the ports of India, the Persian Gulf, and Africa. The British made many efforts to maintain control of their overseas territories and exerted pressure on their opponents. During the 1950s, however, a local Yemenite resistance movement to the British developed in Aden and its environs. The situation in Aden worsened in 1958 in the wake of growing conflicts between the British authorities, the local Adeni people, and Imamic Yemen.39 One letter, dated May 3, 1958, reads, “A series of bombs against two restaurants in Steamer Point resulted in the injury of 12 persons”.40 Consequently, the British Governor declared a state of emergency in the area. This unrest was the background of the restrictions on direct immigration from Aden to Israel. As a result, in February 1958, a British Air flight transported fifty-eight Jews to Israel via Nicosia instead of directly to Tel-Aviv. An ElAl plane then flew the immigrants from Nicosia to Israel.41 The personal effects of the immigrants were shipped from Aden to Genoa and then to Israel.42 In response, the Jewish Agency looked into opportunities to solve the problem of the prohibition of direct flights from Aden to Israel. One suggestion was the possibility of transporting immigrants on ships from Aden to Israel, but the owners of the ships made the conditions difficult. The ships were not suitable for children, and furthermore the captains did not agree to bring passengers. Another suggestion was to take the immigrants on ships to Djibouti, Massawa, or Italy and then to Israel.43 In another letter, it was proposed to send the immigrants via Khartoum to Greece and from there to Israel on Ethiopian Airlines.44 The security situation in Aden became increasingly complicated in 1959, and as a result, the immigration project became more complex. There was a great fear of leaks concerning the secret operations. After the Ānis group immigrated to Israel in November 1959, the events were published (although without the names of the countries) in the Israeli press. In a letter to Baruch Duvdevani, the Director of the Immigration Department at the Jewish Agency, Salim Banin, the leader of the Jewish community in Aden, expressed his anger about this leak. He wrote that this would be brought 39 P. Dresch, A History of Modern Yemen, 2000, pp. 58–64, 71–77. CZA S6\6189, Reuters Daily Bulletin, Aden, May 3, 1958, “Immigration from Yemen 1958” [Hebrew]. 41 CZA S6\6189, Letter of Dr. Rosenzweig to El-Al, dated June 20, 1958, “Immigration from Yemen 1958” [Hebrew]. 42 CZA S1\4029, “Statement of Account for the month of February 1958”. 43 CZA S1\4029, Letter from Duvdevani, the Director of Immigration Department at the Jewish Agency, to Mr. Levavi, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, dated July 9, 1958 [Hebrew]. 44 CZA S6\6189, A letter from the community in Aden to Mr. Yakir in the Immigration Department of the Jewish Agency, dated June 29, 1958, “Immigration from Yemen 1958” [Hebrew]. For more information, see CZA S1\4935. 40 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 129 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 to the attention of the Imam and that it would likely harm the success of the operation. Banin added: “Therefore, we cannot take responsibility ourselves for what will happen in the near future as a result of the irresponsible publication [...] We have always made serious promises to the [British] authorities here [in Aden] that the rescue work of our brothers would be carried out without any publicity or discussion. For their part, they warned us more than once to do the work quietly in order not to cause them trouble with the local Arabs”.45 At that point, it was decided that the following operations should be carried out through Eritrea in total secrecy, and through the mobilization of Israeli organizations. The Jewish Agency (and Israel) decided to transport the immigrants via Asmara and Massawa, as opposed to another route, for several reasons. First, Yemen and Ethiopia are close to each other geographically and there are long-standing ties between the two countries, as expressed by the other articles in this special issue. Additionally, there were Jewish and Israeli communities in Ethiopia that would assist in organizing the clandestine operation. Finally, secret ties were strengthened in those years between Ethiopia and Israel. V. The Jewish community of Ethiopia and Eritrea There are three different Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The oldest community is the native community of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, who had lived in the country for hundreds of years. We have information about them from the 13th century onwards. Their ties with other Jewish communities were strengthened in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, after a visit by Joseph Halévy. Halévy (1827–1917) was an Orientalist and linguist. He was the pioneer of the connection between the Beta Israel community and world Jewry in modern times. Later, Jacques Faitlovitch (1881–1955) also visited Ethiopia. He was also an Orientalist and a researcher of Beta Israel, and a leading activist for the Ethiopian Jews in the early 20th century. However, unfortunately at that time they were not considered as a “natural part” of the Jewish nation, or “halachic Jews”.46 Consequently, Israel did not make serious efforts to encourage their immigration to Israel. In addition, their economic and political situation was poor and therefore they would not be able to offer much help to any new arrivals from Yemen. Aside from the native community, a new community of immigrants was established from Yemen. Beginning in the 19th century, Yemenite Jews established communities in many parts of the Red Sea region, including in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Egypt and, of course, Palestine. At least five different communities emerged around the Red Sea. Jewish merchants set up commercial branches across the Red Sea, which spearheaded the establishment of small Jewish communities in these areas. They were 45 46 CZA S6\6191, A letter from Salim Banin to Baruch Duvdevani, dated December 17, 1959 [Hebrew]. On the history of Beta Israel, see S.B. Kaplan, The Beta Israel (Falasha) in Ethiopia, 1992. CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 130 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 joined by Jewish artisans who worked in crafts, as shoemakers and jewellers. Beside these commercial ties, other Jews passed through Ethiopia and Egypt on their way to Eretz Yisrael (Palestine), and settled there for a short or long duration.47 Although most of the community left in the 1950s, there were a few dozen who remained, and helped the later Yemenite immigrants on their way to Israel. Some of them worked at the “transition houses” in Asmara, like a certain Avraham Yehudah, who was briefly mentioned in the archives, although no more information is known about him.48 More importantly, some Yemenite Jews living in Ethiopia and Eritrea continued to maintain good relations with Yemen. The following example will demonstrate the power of the Yemenite diaspora in Ethiopia and Eritrea to develop relations within Yemen. In 1963, Shalom Ḥamani, a Jewish Agency emissary, met Ġālib Muẓhar Sayyid, a wealthy Yemenite merchant and a representative of Yemen Airlines that had just opened in Asmara. His cousin was Šayib Muḥammad Sayyid, who was called “the Yemeni foreign minister”.49 Through a local Jew, probably Yemenite, “who had commercial ties with the merchant [Ġālib Muẓhar Sayyid]”, they succeeded in passing a proposal to the “Yemeni foreign minister” to send 400 Yemenite Jews in disguise to Jewish organizations in Europe that wanted to help them reunite with Jewish family members. The suggestion was to send the immigrants by the new air route with Yemen Airlines or by ship from al-Ḥudayda to Massawa. The Israeli Ambassador, Shmuel Dibon, told Ḥamani he believed that he could get the Ethiopians’ consent to allow the Yemenite Jews to land there and to transfer them to Israel.50 It seems that this later attempt at facilitation failed, but it indicates the strength of the relations between the Yemenite Jewish merchants in Asmara and Yemen, and the attempts that were made to help the Jews leave Yemen even after the Revolution had halted operations. The Yemenite Jews of Asmara were joined by Israeli merchants and diplomats in the 1950s and especially in the 1960s. The Israeli colony in Ethiopia and Eritrea developed out of the good relations that Israel maintained with Ethiopia. VI. The Israeli involvement in Ethiopia and Eritrea Abel Jacob described Israel’s policy toward Africa that also encompassed the approach to relations with Ethiopia and Eritrea: “During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Israel mounted an active campaign of aid to Africa, which took three main forms: technical About this community see B. Eraqi Klorman, “Yemen, Aden and Ethiopia”, 2009, and recently M. Anzi, “Yemenite Jews in the Red Sea Trade”, 2017, pp. 100–79. 48 See, for instance, CZA S1\4935. 49 I was unable to find any other reference to this person, but he was probably just a high official in the Foreign Ministry of Yemen, rather than the minister himself. 50 CZA S65\197, Letter from Shalom Ḥamani to Shragai, dated September 30, 1959, under the “top secret” heading [Hebrew]. Shmuel Dibon was the first Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1962 to 1966. 47 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 131 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 help in agriculture, joint commercial ventures, and military assistance. Of the three, the military and quasi-military programmes made the most considerable mark in Africa; they were also an important part of Israel’s overall foreign policy, in an attempt to gain political influence through military aid, and thus to help overcome her isolation in the Middle East”.51 It was part of the “periphery strategy” that was developed during the 1950s by Israel, and the aim was to “place a barrier between Arab countries and the newly de-colonized and independent African states”.52 It is important to be aware, in this context, of the political and military upheavals experienced by Ethiopia and Eritrea during this period that directly affected the migration of Jews to Israel. In 1941, Eritrea was liberated from Italian rule and came under British rule. In the same year, Emperor Hayla-Sellase I (r. 1930-1936, 1941-1974) returned to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia became a sovereign state. In 1952, the United Nations adopted a resolution that united Ethiopia and Eritrea and created the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea under Emperor Hayla-Sellase I, Emperor of Ethiopia. Some of the Eritreans, mainly the Muslims, opposed the federation and from 1958 began to organize an underground movement against Ethiopia. The rebellion won the support of some Arab countries. In 1961, an armed revolt broke out in Eritrea against Ethiopia, and in November 1962 Eritrea was annexed to Ethiopia. Under Emperor Hayla-Sellase I the federation was abolished.53 The connection between Israel and Christian Ethiopia was bolstered in the face of Eritrea’s deepening connection with Arab countries, based on its majority of Muslim inhabitants.54 As a result, Israel trained military forces in Ethiopia and kept the programme secret. Israel also created commercial ventures in Ethiopia.55 In addition to these security concerns and the exchange of intelligence, scholars have given other explanations for the special relationship forged between Israel and Africa. Haim Yaacobi claimed that the Israeli settlement project in Africa was “a verifying laboratory for colonial spatial practices”.56 Haggai Erlich described the special ties that have always existed between the Jewish people and the Christians of Ethiopia as part of the rationale.57 Hundreds of Israeli military, agricultural, and industrial specialists went to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the 1960s. Between 1961 and the early 1970s, several Israeli A. Jacob, “Israel’s Military Aid to Africa, 1960–66”, 1971, p. 165. H. Yaacobi, Israel and Africa, 2016, p. 19. 53 See, for example S. Haile, “The Origins and Demise of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Federation”, 1987; B. Zewda, A History of Modern Ethiopia, 2001, pp. 219-220. 54 H. Erlich, Alliance and Break, 2013, pp. 80-83. 55 A. Jacob, “Israel’s Military Aid to Africa, 1960–66”, 1971, pp. 175ff. 56 H. Yaacobi, Israel and Africa, 2016, p. 21. This is consistent with the Zionist fantasy and the attraction of Africa, see E. Bar Yosef, “A Villa in the Jungle”, 2007. 57 H. Erlich, Alliance and Break, 2013. 51 52 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 132 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 fishing boats operated from the port of Massawa.58 The best example of this is the canned meat factory, Incoda, that was established in Ethiopia and Eritrea by Israeli business representatives in 1952 and functioned until the 1970s. For a large part of the time, the State of Israel was a partner in the company.59 Apparently, during the 1950s, Incoda and other Israeli companies tried to do business with Yemen, and especially with Aden.60 Sometimes there were connections between the two modes of aid—security and business. For example, Incoda cooperated with Israeli intelligence, and under its management were senior Mossad personnel in Addis Ababa, Massawa and Djibouti. 61 Israel Yeshayahu contended that the Israelis tended not to establish ties with the local Jewish community, Beta Israel.62 This broader context contributes to our understanding of the immigration operation from Yemen to Israel via Eritrea at a deeper level. Indeed, the indirect route allowed for the migrants to pass through territories that were deemed much safer for Israeli migrants. Shalom Ḥamani, the Israeli emissary, wrote that the Israeli community in Ethiopia and Eritrea helped them arrange the operation. For example, the Enav brothers, who were involved in business in Asmara (the Incoda company and other businesses) organized the release of the immigrants’ baggage in Asmara and its transfer to the Massawa port. Israeli sailors also helped Yemenite immigrants to board the ship in Massawa.63 In his letter, Ḥamani also emphasizes that British soldiers and Indian officials in Aden assisted in the immigrant operation, without the knowledge of the local Arabs, and that the operation was carried out in strict secrecy. The need to launch the operation in secret was also a result of the British government’s fear of a sharp response by the Muslims in Aden. “The Governor tried to explain to me that he has tens of thousands of workers in all kinds of factories, especially in fuel factories. Tomorrow everyone will strike and shut down the factories because he is cooperating with Israel”.64 Yaacobi’s argument regarding the connection between Israeli activity in Africa and the formation of Israeli national identity,65 helps explain the importance of the Is- 58 See for this, see the memoirs of Yehuda Rotem: http://www.tapuz.co.il/forums2008/articles/article.aspx?forumid=467&aId=67414&frewrite=1 [Hebrew]. 59 H. Erlich, Alliance and Break, 2013, pp. 72–73. CZA S1\4256, Letter from Dr. Rosenzweig to Shragai, dated September 27, 1954 [Hebrew]. 61 See, for example, H. Erlich, Alliance and Break, 2013. 62 I. Yeshayahu, Single and Together, 1990, pp. 262-266. 63 CZA S6\10013, Letter of Ḥamani to the Immigration Depatment at the Jewish Agency, dated January 1962. 64 The testimony of Shalom Ḥamani, in A. Kamon, The Ropes of Genesis, 2011, pp. 178–181. 65 H. Yaacobi, Israel and Africa, 2016, pp. 38–39. 60 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 133 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 raeli mobilization in Ethiopia and Eritrea, especially in Asmara, for the success of the Jewish immigration project from Yemen. On the other hand, it is possible to understand why the Adeni Jews operated in secrecy and did not communicate on a regular basis with the Jewish Agency. Ḥamani notes this both in a negative letter and in his memoirs. In both he describes the fear felt by the Adeni Jews when he came to visit the city.66 It is important to remember that the details of the 1959 operation that were published in Israel had harmed the relations between Jews and Arabs and the British in Aden. The secrecy of these operations can also explain why the immigrants were not permitted to take a tour of the city of Asmara while staying there. The new immigrants in August 1962, who were not aware of the secrecy, complained about this and claimed in their own words: “Now we arrived Asmara, and they put us in jail” [“Alan waṣalne ʿAsmarah [!] ḥabastūne”].67 Those involved in the operation were fearful of public disclosure and were forced to maintain a “low profile”. The desire to maintain the secrecy of the operation was also a result of the tension that existed between the Eritrean underground, the ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front), which was close to Egypt, and the Ethiopian regime, which maintained good relations with Israel. VII. Conclusion In 1962 about 230 new immigrants from Yemen arrived in Israel. In a series of clandestine and complicated operations, the immigrants were escorted by Arab emissaries from their Yemeni cities of residence to Aden. In Aden, they were hosted by the Jewish community, and from there, they were flown on Ethiopian Airlines to Asmara where they were taken by bus to the Massawa port, and from there they sailed to Israel. These events were the last immigration operations from northern Yemen before the closing of the gates. The deteriorating situation in Yemen and in British Aden, on the one hand, and the close ties between Israel and Ethiopia, on the other, enabled these operations to take place. In addition, this article attributes the success of the operation to members of the Israeli community, and to the small Yemenite community living in Ethiopia and Eritrea. These operations shed new light on the significance of the security and economic ties forged between Israel and Ethiopia and the possibilities that the security base in Ethiopia gave Israel in the entire Red Sea region. CZA S6\10013, Letter of Ḥamani to the Immigration Department at the Jewish Agency, dated January 1962 [Hebrew], and the testimony of Shalom Ḥamani. 67 Private collection of Daḥōḥ family, Rishon le-Tzion. A letter from “Ǧamīaʿ al-Yahūd” (“All the Jews”), to Avraham Yehudah [Judeo-Arabic]. In Yemen, sometimes, Asmara was written with an ʿayn at the beginning: ʿAsmara. 66 CmY special issue 1 (2017-2018) 134 M. Anzi Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Israel: Jewish Immigration In 1962 Bibliography Abū Ǧabal, Kāmīliyā. 1999. Yahūd al-Yaman: Dirāsa al-siyāsiyya wa-al-iqtaṣādiyya waal-iǧtimāʿiyya munḏu nihāyat al-qarn al-tāsiʿ ʿašar wa-ḥattā muntaṣif al-qarn alʿishrīn [The Jews of Yemen: A Political, Economic and Social Study from the end of the Nineteenth Century until the Mid-Twentieth Century], Damascus, Dār alnamīr li-al-ṭibāʿa wa-al-našr wa-al-tawzīʿ. 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