Tale of Israeli Airlift Of Ethiopians Comes To The Big Screen

Ethiopians come to Israel in “Operation Solomon.” Image by israel government press office
In the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews moved to Israel in two waves of mass immigration organized by the Israeli government. The most famous was in 1991, when 34 packed El Al passenger planes were used to covertly airlift 14,325 Beta Israel fleeing political violence in what was referred to as “Operation Solomon.”
Now, that dramatic tale will be told on the big screen. Gideon Raff, the creator of “Prisoners of War,” the Israeli series that “Homeland” is based on, is directing the drama, called “Red Sea Diving Resort.”
The movie will be funded by Canadian film house Bron Studios. Chris Evans, who is best known for his roles playing super heroes in movies based on Marvel Comics books, has been chosen to play Adi Kidron, an Israeli agent who “assembles a ragtag team to help with the exodus on the ground,” according to Deadline.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
