Immigration and ongoing aliyah
Operation Moses, Operation Solomon, and ongoing aliyah since — verified history and annual trend.
Operation Moses (1984-1985)
~6,300-8,000Operation Moses brought between 6,364 (an exact flight count, 21.11.1984-5.1.1985, per Feldmann's On Wings of Eagles) and about 8,000 (an ENP estimate covering a broader window around the operation) Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel.
Source: ויקיפדיה עברית, "מבצע משה" (מצטט Feldmann, On Wings of Eagles, 2012) ו-ENP · 1985
⚠️ A discrepancy between sources (an exact 6,364 vs a rounded ~8,000) — shown as a range, not a single number.
Operation Solomon (1991)
~14,300-14,500Operation Solomon brought between 14,310 and 14,400-14,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel within 36 hours (May 24-25, 1991) — the fastest airlift in history. All sources checked fall within this narrow range.
Source: ויקיפדיה עברית, "מבצע שלמה" · 1991
Ongoing Falash Mura aliyah
Since 1993A slow, ongoing aliyah of "Falash Mura" from 1993 to the present, via time-bound government-defined operations. For example, "Operation Tzur Yisrael" (2020-2023, in two phases) brought about 3,550 olim by the explicit phase breakdown (2,000 + ~1,550) cited on Wikipedia — one source also mentions "about 5,000" for the operation overall, but that figure does not reconcile with the phase breakdown, so it is not shown here as a final total.
Source: ויקיפדיה עברית, "מבצע צור ישראל" · 2023
⚠️ An internal arithmetic discrepancy in the source (2,000+1,550≠5,000) — "5,000" is not published as a final total.
Annual aliyah — 2024
285285 olim from Ethiopia in 2024 — an ~84% drop from 1,812 in 2023, the lowest figure in the documented decade (2017-2024). See the full year-by-year trend in the chart below.
Source: הלמ"ס, "לקט נתונים לרגל חג הסיגד 2025" (367/2025, 16.11.2025) · 2024
Duration of stay in absorption centers
18-24 monthsThe typical absorption track for Ethiopian olim includes a stay of about 18-24 months in absorption centers — unlike the "direct absorption" (no absorption center) more common among olim from Western countries.
Source: מרכז המחקר והמידע של הכנסת, "נתונים על יוצאי אתיופיה וסקירת תוכניות סיוע בדיור" (10.8.2025) · 2025
Awaiting aliyah in Ethiopia — estimate
~9,000About 9,000 additional people were estimated to be awaiting aliyah in Ethiopia, per a point estimate from July 2023 (at the conclusion of "Operation Tzur Yisrael"). No verified update to this figure has been found since — shown as a historical point estimate, not a current number.
Source: ויקיפדיה עברית, "מבצע צור ישראל" · 2023
⚠️ A single-source, single-point estimate (July 2023) — no update was found.
Annual aliyah from Ethiopia, 2017-2024
- 201780.9%
- 201811.5%
- 201945.1%
- 202059.6%
- 202196.9%
- 202292.7%
- 2023100%
- 202415.7%
Source: הלמ"ס, דוחות "לקט נתונים לרגל חג הסיגד" 2020-2025 (ראו נתוני שנתי בהקשר)
Context and interpretation
Snapshot
Aliyah from Ethiopia to Israel falls into three periods: small, individual immigration until the early 1970s; two major, short waves — Operation Moses (1984-1985, ~6,300-8,000 olim) and Operation Solomon (1991, ~14,300-14,500 olim within 36 hours) — which together brought about a third of today's entire Ethiopian-origin population in Israel (per CBS); and a slower, ongoing aliyah of Falash Mura from 1993 to the present, via time-bound government operations.
The last decade's trend: a sharp decline
Over 2017-2024 the annual aliyah rate was highly volatile — from a peak of 1,812 olim in 2023 to a low of just 285 in 2024, an ~84% one-year drop, the lowest in the documented decade. Note: the trend chart above shows each year as a percentage of the peak (2023=100%) for visual comparison — exact figures (208 in 2018 through 1,812 in 2023) are detailed in this text, not only in the chart.
Historical figures — why a range, not a single number
The major aliyah waves (Moses, Solomon) show small but consistent differences between sources — an exact flight count (6,364 / 14,310) versus rounder estimates (~8,000 / ~14,400-14,500). To avoid misleading readers, we present a range rather than arbitrarily picking one number.
Absorption and support
Ethiopian olim go through a distinct absorption track — a stay of about 18-24 months in absorption centers, unlike the "direct absorption" more common among olim from Western countries — alongside dedicated housing assistance programs (see the Housing topic).
Figures are updated yearly from official publications. If you spot an inaccuracy or want to suggest a source — get in touch.
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