Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

Airlift

Aliyah

Jewish immigration to Israel
Pre-Zionist
The Return to Zion Old Yishuv
Before Israeli independence
First Second During World War I Third Fourth Fifth Aliyah Bet Bricha
After Israeli independence
Exodus from Muslim countries Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen) Operation Ezra and Nehemiah 1968 Polish aliyah Aliyah from Ethiopia 1970s Soviet Union aliyah 1990s Post-Soviet aliyah 2000s Latin America aliyah
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Judaism Zionism Galut Yerida Homeland for the Jewish people Jewish messianism Law of Return
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Theodor Herzl Knesset El Al World Zionist Organization Jewish Agency for Israel Nefesh B'Nefesh Ministry of Immigrant Absorption
Related topics
Yishuv Immigrant camps Revival of the Hebrew language History of the Jews in the Land of Israel Israeli Jews Jewish diaspora Jewish history History of Zionism History of Israel Historical Jewish population comparisons
Category

Waiting in Baghdad was a tense and difficult period. Some 50,000 Jews signed up in one month, and two months later there were 90,000 on the list. This mass movement stunned the Iraqi Government, which had not expected the number of immigrants to exceed 8,000, and feared that administrative institutions run by Jews might collapse. At the same time, the Zionist movement issued a manifesto calling on the Jews to sign up for immigration. It started with the following: "O, Zion, flee, daughter of Babylon," and concluded thus: "Jews! Israel is calling you — come out of Babylon!"

The first planes flew to Israel via Cyprus in mid-May 1951. Several months later, a giant airlift operated directly from Baghdad to Lod airport. Operation Ezra and Nehemiah ended at the beginning of 1952, leaving only about 6,000 Jews in Iraq. Most of the 2,800-year-old Jewish community immigrated to Israel.

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Operation Ezra and Nehemiah - Airlift