Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)
Operation Magic Carpet is a widely known nickname for Operation On Wings of Eagles, an operation between June 1949 and September 1950 that brought 49,000 Yemenite Jews to the new state of Israel. During its course, the overwhelming majority of Yemenite Jews – some 47,000 from Yemen, 1,500 from Aden, as well as 500 from Djibouti and Eritrea and some 2,000 Jews from Saudi Arabia – were airlifted to Israel. British and American transport planes made some 380 flights from Aden.
Yemenite Jews en route to Israel from Aden, Yemen
Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim, are Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of the country's Jewish population immigrated to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite Jews now live in Israel, while smaller communities live in the United States and elsewhere. As of 2022, Levi Marhabi is the last Jew in Yemen.
Yemenite family reading from the Psalms
Temani Jews in Jerusalem
Ring-stone of Yishak bar Hanina with a Torah shrine, 330 BCE – 200 CE, found in Dhofar
Sabaean Inscription with Hebrew writing: "The writing of Judah, of blessed memory, Amen shalom amen"