The story of the modern exodus of “Beta Israel” the Jews of Ethiopia during Operations Moses and Solomon, which together airlifted some 22,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, is well known. Less well known is the dramatic exodus of over 48,000 Jews from Yemen. Almost unknown is the role played by Alaska Airlines.
No one knows for certain when the first Jews came to Yemen. Local legend has them being sent as traders by King Solomon. In any event, Jews have lived in Yemen for many centuries. In that poverty-stricken country, the Jews were the poorest and lowest of citizens living in contempt and on sufferance as dhimmis. However, in their synagogues and schools, they taught their children to learn and write Hebrew. They never forgot their faith, protected the traditions, observed the Sabbath and passed the Torah and Talmud to each succeeding generation.
For the Jews life in Yemen became intolerable.
Following World War I, when Yemen became independent, life in that Muslim country for the Jews became intolerable. Anti-Semitic laws were revived; Jews were not permitted to walk on pavements; in court a Jew’s evidence was not accepted against a Muslim’s; Jewish orphans had to be converted to Islam. Some Jews were able to escape to Palestine but most were trapped.
From Despair to Danger
In 1947, following the United Nations vote to partition Palestine, the situation of the Jews in Yemen turned from despair to physical danger. Arab rioters in the adjacent port of Aden, then a British Crown colony and now part of Yemen, killed 82 Jews and torched the Jewish quarter. The establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 and Israel’s War of Independence increasingly endangered the Yemeni Jews as it did in all Arab countries. It was not, however, until May 1949, when the Imam of Yemen unexpectedly agreed to permit all Jews to leave his country that they were able to flee. They longed to return to Zion if only they had the means. At that time, slightly over 49,000 Jews lived in Yemen.
As the War of Independence ended in early 1949, Israel was devastated and virtually bankrupt. Notwithstanding, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, defying logic and the advice of his economic advisors, ordered the immediate and rapid “Ingathering of the Exiles”. Where would Israel get the money? “Go to the Jews in the Diaspora and ask them for the money,” Ben-Gurion answered the skeptics.
Airplanes Needed
Egypt had closed the Suez Canal to the Jews of Yemen; they would have to be transported by air to Israel. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the international Jewish humanitarian aid organization, agreed to fund the Yemenite exodus and organize the airlift, but they needed aircraft.

Photo: Al Taylor/ Courtesy of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Alaska Airlines was founded in 1932 when Mac McGee purchased a used three passenger Stinson and started an air charter business in Alaska. With the arrival of James Wooten as president in 1947, the airline began to purchase surplus planes from the U.S. Government and within a year became the world’s largest charter airline.
It would take at least $50,000 to set up the charter, cash that the Airline did not have.
The JDC approached Wooten and asked if Alaska Airlines would agree to accept the Yemen airlift. Wooten wanted Alaska Air to take on the mission of mercy but Ray Marshall, Chairman of the Board, was cool. Marshall felt the deal was a waste of the Airline’s time and money. It would take at least $50,000 to set up the charter, cash that the Airline did not have. Marshall insisted that Wooten front the funds himself.
Wooten raised the $50,000 by borrowing it from a travel agency associated with the JDC. The contract was signed and Operation On Wings of Eagles, more popularly known by its nickname, Operation Magic Carpet commenced.
On the Wings of Eagles
As Yemen would not permit the Jewish refugees to be flown out of their country, Britain had agreed to the establishment of a transit camp in the adjoining Crown Colony of Aden from which the airlift could commence. Alaska Airlines set up its base in Asmara, Eritrea with their ground crew, pilots and aircraft, – DC-4s and C-46s. The arrangement was to fly from their base in Asmara to Aden each morning, pick up their passengers in Aden and refuel. Thence fly up the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba to the airport in Tel Aviv, unload the refugees, fly to the safety of Cyprus for the night and return to their base in Asmara at dawn, before starting all over again. The round trip would take about 20 hours.

Yeminite Jews returning to Israel as part of Operation Magic Carpet in 1949
The aircraft as configured could not carry enough passengers or sufficient fuel. So the planes were modified by replacing the regular airline seats with rows of benches and fitting extra fuel tanks down the length of the fuselages between the benches. Aircraft intended to carry 50 passengers could now carry 120 and fuel would last a skinny extra one hour.
Meanwhile the transit camp in Aden, called “Camp Geula” (Redemption) was organized by the JDC and staffed by Israeli doctors and social workers under the directorship of Max Lapides, an American Jew. Also headquartered at the camp were emissaries responsible for paying various Yemeni tribal chiefs a “head tax” which would permit the Jewish refugees to pass through their territory
Like the biblical exodus they walked out of slavery into freedom.
As news of the evacuation reached the Jews of Yemen, they left their few possessions behind (except their prayer books and Torahs) and like the biblical exodus began to walk out of slavery into freedom. They traveled in family groups, some hundreds of miles, through wind and sandstorm, vulnerable to robbers and a hostile local population, until half-starved and destitute they reached the border with Aden where Israeli aid workers met them and transported them to the transit camp. There they encountered electricity, medicines, running water, toilets and personal hygiene for the first time. During the entire operation, the Jews of Yemen arrived at Camp Geula in a steady stream, newer ones arriving as an earlier group was airlifted out.

Photo: Courtesy of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Getting the Yemenite Jews to Aden was one problem, getting them on the aircraft was another. Nomads who had never seen an airplane before and never lived anywhere but in a tent, many of the immigrants were frightened and refused to board. Once reminded that their deliverance to Israel by air was prophesized in the Book of Isaiah, “They shall mount up with wings like eagles,” reinforced by the painting of an eagle with outstretched wings over the door of each aircraft, induced them to board the planes. Once inside many preferred sitting on the floor to unaccustomed soft seats. Keeping them from lighting fires to cook their food was a task. During the flight, about half would get sick vomiting over the extra inside fuel tanks. Notwithstanding, the Yemenites upon landing in Israel chanted blessings and burst into song.
The Irish Moses
To start up Operation Magic Carpet, Alaska Airlines sent Portland native Bob Maguire, a pilot with management experience, to the Middle East. Maguire flew between 270 and 300 hours a month. Had he been in the U.S., the limit under its aviation rules was 90 hours. Ben-Gurion called Maguire the “Irish Moses”. The work cost Maguire his career. He contracted a parasite that affected his heart and as a result lost his commercial pilot’s license in the early 1950’s. Another pilot was Warren Metzger, born in Lethbridge who found time between flights to marry his flight attendant. At least one pilot, Stanley Epstein, was Jewish.
The work was dangerous. Many airplanes were shot at.
The airlift that began in June 1948 was hard on the pilots who were flying 16-hour days and hard on the planes that flew well beyond their scheduled service intervals. Fuel was difficult to come by, the desert sand wreaked havoc on the engines and flying was seat-of-the-pants with navigation by dead reckoning and eyesight.
The work was dangerous. Many airplanes were shot at. One pilot, getting a little close to Arab territory while approaching Israel, watched tracer bullets arching up towards his airplane. Another plane had a tire blown out during a bombing raid in Tel Aviv. On one occasion, Maguire was forced to land his aircraft in Egypt when it ran out of gas. The Israelis had warned all pilots that if they had to land in Arab territory, the Jewish refugees and perhaps even the crew would likely be shot. The quick-witted Maguire told airport officials he needed ambulances to take his passengers to hospital. When they asked why, he replied that his passengers had smallpox. The frightened Egyptians wanted him out of there right away. Maguire received his fuel and flew on to Tel Aviv.
Part way through the operation, the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board forced Alaska Airlines to shut down its international charter business and a company called Near East Air Transport, whose president was James Wooten and whose pilots, and aircraft were all Alaska Air’s, completed the Operation Magic Carpet airlift. Near East Air Transport was just Alaska Airlines operating under another name.
By the time Operation Magic Carpet ended in September 1950, 28 Alaska Airlines pilots had made some 380 flights and airlifted 48,818 refugees, almost Yemen’s entire Jewish population, to Israel. Miraculously not one death or injury occurred.
Operation Magic Carpet was kept secret for reasons of security and to prevent sabotage. It would be many months later before the public or the press would become aware of the remarkable operation.
Today, Alaska Airlines is an international carrier serving 60 cities and 3 countries. Passengers flying Alaska Airlines do not realize that they are flying with the airline that saved the Jews of Yemen.
Photo-top: Courtesy of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
(24) Bill Hendricks, September 26, 2020 4:17 AM
This should be posted in every airport that Alaska Air flies into or out of especially in Seattle and Anchorage
(23) South Florida, December 22, 2018 3:04 AM
We took Alaska Airlines for the first time last month....to a quad-mitzvah
Unbeknownst to us, our party of four Jews took Alaska Airlines to California and back ...from Florida... to celebrate a life cycle event. As miraculous an event that was the family's quad-mitzvah, the Yemenite Jews' secret journey to safety in Israel aboard Alaska Airlines was a true miracle. All in all, a most fitting time for the four of us to fly Alaska Airlines.
(22) William Brenner, April 18, 2017 2:41 AM
ALK was rewarded
Alaska Airlines has been growing by leaps and bounds and recently acquired Virgin america from Richard Branson. I have flown ALK from LA to Seattle to continue on to Vancouver Island and the service was excellent. until reading this story I had no idea of the role this airline played in saving Jews from Islamic extermination. Yemen is being torn apart by civil war, in much the same way that all the Judenrein Arab countries are. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya. Soon Turkey which under Erdogan is Islamizing and soon they too will have civil war. The fools don't learn that those countries who persecute their Jews are subjected to Divine revenge and punishment, witness Nazi Germany, Inquisition Spain, Stalin's USSR etc sown through history. The European anti-semites are realizing that they are infected with the Islamic virus which will change their culture forever and they deserve it.
(21) J., April 15, 2017 12:04 AM
A miracle
Bravo fortissimo to those at Alaska Airlines for saving so many innocents...the executives, flight crews and ground personnel...I am a private pilot and can only imagine the vast logistical and actual flight conditions they preserved through considering the lack of navigational aids and the impossible maintainace of aircraft under those conditions..someone should make a movie about this truly magnificent and blessed event..my hats off with admiration for all involved..
(20) Grace smith, August 31, 2016 9:47 AM
GOD BLESS ALASKA AIRLINES AND PILOTS MEMORIAL...BLESS EXTENDED FAMILIES
THANK YOU FOR THIS SHARING THIS HISTORY WITH THE JEWS AIR LIFT.
(19) Shirley levenson, June 27, 2016 3:11 AM
That is a heartwarming story. There are many good caring people in the world.
(18) Dick Perlas, April 20, 2016 4:24 AM
Great Article of the Century!
God bless you Atty. Joe Soier. Your love for the Jewish History inspires us Filipino people to do the same.
Your great article is forever live in the hearts of people who love Israel.
(17) Tuugasala Fuga, April 16, 2016 8:42 PM
God's grace and favor is surely upon Alaska Airlines. Keep it up Alaska Airlines! One of the many good reasons why my wife and I continue to fly with you!
(16) Skye Blue, April 14, 2016 7:35 PM
great airline did a great thing
Being very close to the airline and knowing their rich history and the roots of caring, kindness and compassion they stem from, this is a statement about their true nature and heart. They started with humble beginnings and have reached out to many in need over the decades. It's a shame the story of this has been kept buried for so long. Over the years the world has changed and so has the industry. But at the root and heart of the company are many believers who keep it strong. If you are in The Land look for 3 of their aircraft coming in and out of Israel for the next year. A relationship between the 2 has been rekindled, hopefully it can grow.
(15) Linda Ostic, April 13, 2016 3:59 PM
Those Who Bless the Jews
"I will bless those who bless you." Genesis 12:3 Is there any doubt that Alaska Airlines is blessed?
(14) elaine, April 10, 2016 3:39 PM
rewards for good deeds
I have just read that Alaska Airlines has purchased Virgin Airlines. Their continued growth and success is due to their bravery and skill. From now on I will only fly with them if they are going where I am going. Get the word out.
(13) Ra'anan, April 9, 2016 7:08 PM
article errors
Though Yemenite Jews did not have electricity, they did have medicines and "personal hygiene" & did not encounter them for the first time in Aden. I spoke to a Yemenite Jew who got to Aden & he told me that Adeni Arabs RIP his sidelocks/payoth from his head as a boy there.
(12) Val Burgess, April 9, 2016 12:28 PM
Thank you!
It is so great to see people care about others. Thank you Alaska Airlines.
(11) Theresa, April 8, 2016 7:08 AM
G-d Bless Alaska Airlines
Even though I'm a local and sometimes its the only way to fly out of Alaska. It continues to be My Airline of choice. The best service and care and mileage program. Thank you Alaska Airlines for doing what you do. May G-d's Peace rest on you as you continue to prosper.
(10) Yishai Yerushalmi, April 7, 2016 4:54 PM
omits to mention Yeminite Jewish Kingdom
It's an interesting fact. However, the writer omits the older history: in pre-Islamic times (1300 years ago, aprox.) there had been a Jewish kingdom in what is now Yemen: the Himyarite kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyarite_Kingdom
(9) Roberto Solano, April 7, 2016 2:01 PM
I was just a child in 1950 when I too was part of a mass migration by airplanes from Puerto Rico to New York City. Those 2 and 4 engine airplanes were scary to say the least.
(8) Sandra Cain, April 7, 2016 1:58 PM
Another inspiring story of great magnitude.
I wish there was a way to have great directors and actors to create this into a documentary and a profound, classic commercial film. There are many other profound stories.
It would help educate the masses to know and understand Israel.
(7) shilvib puri, April 6, 2016 1:48 AM
AN EXCELLENT TRUE HEART WARMING REAL LIFE STORY
THIS REAL LIFE STORY HAS BEEN SO BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED BY THE AUTHOR !!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!
(6) Ed Marcus, DDS, April 5, 2016 9:49 PM
Alaska is a great line! FLY THEM!!
Go Alaska!!
(5) Anonymous, April 5, 2016 8:53 PM
Thank you Alaska Airlines I shall try to fly with you as often as possible Bli neder
Thank you Alaska Airlines
(4) shimon, April 5, 2016 4:13 PM
God's reward
God rewards those who helped the jews . look how thriving the airline is they just bought out Spirit Air . good luck to them.
on the other side God punishes those who hurt the jews. look at Yemen today its torn by war and destruction. this is pay back
Measure for measure . Mida keneged Mida.
(3) Reb Yid, April 5, 2016 3:31 PM
study in contrasts
What these largely (exclusively?) gentile pilots did for the Jews is beyond praiseworthy. Unfortunately, what these Yemenite Jews encountered once they got to Israel was a different story. The secular, anti-religious Israeli administration was quite successful at separating the immigrants from their traditional Torah lifestyle.
Laine Frajberg, April 6, 2016 1:58 PM
Why Dump on Ben Gurion?
Ben Gurion was a great man and without him the state would not exist-certainly he contributed far more to its re-establishment than the ultra-orthodox.And he did get the Jews out of Yemen.(most of them) which is more than I can say for your community who did NOTHING.Why are you using this uplifting story to dump garbage on him and his government?
Eli Cohen, April 7, 2016 2:25 PM
Truth hurts.
Ben Gurion did wrong. You say "Without Ben Gurion the state would not exist". That is wrong. Menachem Begin would have done a better job.
Laine Frajberg, April 7, 2016 11:32 PM
Ben Gurion Got the Job Done
The fact is the Declaration of Independence was made by BG-against great opposition.The armes to fight the ensuing war were secured by BG.THe army that used those arms to defeat the Arab coalition was created by BG on May 26,1948.And BG got specialists like Col.Mickey Marcus to whip the various militias into a unified army.And the commanders who led the IDF to victory were selected by BG personally.
Begin's Irgun did capture Jaffa (May 13-14,1948) which was surrounded anyway.But they had earlier attacked Deir Yassim which was not hostile at that time (April 9,19148) and massacred about a hundred Arabs after the battle.Begin also came close to starting a civil war when he refused to hand over all the arms on the Altalena to the central command.(He wanted to retain a certain percentage for the Irgun.)
And,of course BG oversaw the early years of the state including the massive Aliyah (from Yemen and elsewhere.) and the settlement of the new immigrants.All in all a very great man
Ra'anan, April 9, 2016 7:05 PM
Ben-Gurion & Yemenite Jews
Almost 6,000 Yemenite Jewish were KIDNAPPED under BG's leadership. Almost 100,000 Sefaradim were severely injured under BG's government program for "ringworm" treatment as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMp1tef4lg4 . As soon as Israelis were free enough from employment blackmail they voted out BG's old Labour Party which recently changed its name in an attempt to distance itself from its filthy past. BG's gov't ESPECIALLY targeted Yemenite Jewry because they were so strong in their Judaism. BG's old party is very likely to disappear in the next election.
Laine Frajberg, April 11, 2016 4:58 PM
Ben Gurion was a Great Man
Ben Gurion was a great man and without him the state wouldn't exist altogether.And the Jews of Yemen would still be back in Yemen.I would rate him on the level of Joshua or perhaps even King David.The fact that you use this forum to dump garbage on him tells us more about you than about Ben Gurion-and his phenomenal achievements.(winning a war against great odds and building a state from nothing)Incidentally,he is reported to have said that his proudest moment would be to have the IDF Chief of Staff be a Yemenite Jew.So...maybe he didn't despise quite them quite that much.
Sam, April 8, 2016 5:45 AM
Both sides must be heard
As I was reading this inspiring story I also noticed the omission of the anti-religious agenda once the immigrants arrived. To shut down debate just because someone presents a view consistent with Orthodoxy is wrong.The facts are that Jews were deliberately separated from their heritage. There is also the issue of children being removed at birth from their parents who then received bogus death certificates.There is a lot of residual pain to this day in the Yemenite community. To discount it all with irrelevant anti-Orthodox mudslinging does nothing to ease this pain.
Laine Frajberg, April 9, 2016 12:12 AM
The Purpose of the Article
The purpose of the article was to describe how the Jews of Yemen were rescued not how they were treated in Israel once they arrived.And yes,were it not for that same Ben Gurion whom you obviously dislike,the Jews of Yemen would never have been brought over in the first place.The State of Israel wouldn't have come into existence either but most of the ultra-orthodox wouldn't have been too upset by that either.
Yael, April 13, 2016 7:07 PM
I'm a Yemenite descendant.
My grandparents came to Israel from Yemen at the time of the article.
With all due respect Laine Frajberg, there are two sides to this miraculous story. The Yemenite jews for hundreds of years were dedicated to their tradition and NO ONE left our faith. Yes they suffered alot from their arab neighbours, but they all had it clear that they were Jewish and will keep it's laws.
When they were told that they are being flown to Israel, there could be no one happier, since they thought that Moshiach has arrive. YES they were brought to a better living condition than they had in Yemen, and we are thankful to that. BUT do you know that ON THE AIRPLANE the zionist's took away the torah scrolls that they barely managed to take along? As soon as they landed they cut the boys and mens side-locks and shaved their beards! They were told if they don't work on Shabat then they won't get food to eat and they will need to move out of the colony they were in. My mother has a few cousins that till THIS DAY they don't know where they were taken to, since they were kidnapped at birth telling the family that they have enough kids already! At first they were just told that the baby died without any explanation and no grave, but later the truth was reviled.
Sadly most of the Yemenite Jews were not strong enough to stick to our religion and today most of them our secular.
Today the government is ashamed of the Yemenite history, that's why it's not widely known.
Laine Frajberg, April 14, 2016 1:52 PM
As I Said
As I said,the purpose of the article was to describe how the Jews of Yemen were brought to Israel-not how they were treated there once they arrived.And living in Israel isn't about having a higher living standard than in the diaspora..It's about living as a free Jewish man or woman in a Jewish state.And if the descendants of the Yemenite (or other) Jews want to live a religious lifestyle in Israel,nothing is stopping them from doing so.
Yael, April 14, 2016 9:05 PM
obviously not
You are right that the purpose of the article was to praise Alaskan Airlines, and they do deserve it.
But since the discussion on what happened to the Yemenites since they were brought here came up, it needs to be clarified.
You are looking at the sate of Israel now, which being a religious Jew is more or less tolerated. Back then, the people (who we are grateful to them for enabling us to have a state) did NOT want religion to be part of it in any way, and they fought hard to destroy religious beliefs. Lots of naive and weak people caved into the pressure which were mostly Sefardic origin. Since the Ashkenazim had already left the yolk in Europe.
Yes the few descendants that held strong to the faith of our forefathers are able to do so today. But how many secular people living in Israel had Religious grandparents?? The majority of them. Because the so called free state of the past FORCED them to, NOT out of free will.
These are facts.
(2) Alan S, April 5, 2016 3:31 PM
Alaska Airlines
Great article and something I never heard about.
Took Alaska Airlines to California last fall and I will look for it as my first choice in the future now that I know this story.
Thanks
(1) Anonymous, April 4, 2016 2:33 PM
What a wonderful achievement for Alaska Airlines. More people need to know about these wonderful men. More publicity should be out there so others can know what happened.