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Mossad Exodus: The Daring Undercover Rescue Of The Lost Jewish Tribe
In 1977, Israel's Mossad spy agency was given an assignment far different from its usual cloak and dagger activities. It was ordered by then Prime Minister Menachem Begin to rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jewish refugees in Sudan and "deliver them to me" in the Jewish state. No stranger to action in enemy countries, the agency established a covert forward base in a deserted holiday village in Sudan, and deployed a handful of operatives to launch and oversee the exodus of the refugees to the Promised Land, by sea and by air, in the early 1980s. Gad Shimron, the author of this book, was one of their number.
First published in Hebrew in 1998, this updated English version of the book offers a thrilling firsthand account of how the operation was put in place, and how the Mossad team in Sudan brought it off, despite great personal risk, running a partying vacation spot for wealthy tourists by day as they stole through the Sudanese desert to rescue desperate refugees by night. The book sheds light on American involvement in the latter stages of the operation, when the White House facilitated an airlift of Ethiopian Jews and the CIA station in Khartoum sheltered the last Mossad operatives, on the run from Libyan secret service agents, and spirited them out of Sudan in special boxes labeled Diplomatic Mail. Enhanced by Gad Shimron's wide-ranging historical observations and his crisp, incisive prose, this is at once an entertaining read and a powerful tale of idealistic heroism.
First published in Hebrew in 1998, this updated English version of the book offers a thrilling firsthand account of how the operation was put in place, and how the Mossad team in Sudan brought it off, despite great personal risk, running a partying vacation spot for wealthy tourists by day as they stole through the Sudanese desert to rescue desperate refugees by night. The book sheds light on American involvement in the latter stages of the operation, when the White House facilitated an airlift of Ethiopian Jews and the CIA station in Khartoum sheltered the last Mossad operatives, on the run from Libyan secret service agents, and spirited them out of Sudan in special boxes labeled Diplomatic Mail. Enhanced by Gad Shimron's wide-ranging historical observations and his crisp, incisive prose, this is at once an entertaining read and a powerful tale of idealistic heroism.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 23, 2019
A very nice and gripping read. The writer a former Mossad agent has given a personal account of his operation in 1980's to rescue Ethopian Jews from Sudan. The book not only tells us the difficulties faced by the agents in the operation but also the background of the story which explains why Ethopian Jews took refugee in Sudan and why the rescue work was carried out covertly. So it's not only an interesting book but very knowledgeable also as the geopolitical situation of that area becomes clearer.
May 23, 2020
An engrossing read with great historical context, funny anecdotes & sombre political assessments.
January 5, 2021
The Mossad Exodus
The Mossad's most shining moments were its Zionistic operations to save Jews. Details of some are now going public.
About Dr. Harold Goldmeier
The writer is a former Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University where he received his doctorate. He served in the administrations of three U. S. Governors, is a business management consultant with a personal interest in education and NGOs. He is writing an e-Book on Healthcare Insights.
More from the author ►
Some of my international university students just returned from Ethiopia. The trip is optional for gap year students learning about the Jewish People There is a backstory to the Ethiopian Jews returning home to Zion that is more exciting and fraught with Israel’s good intentions and courageous deeds that continues decades later.
Their travel guide was one of my Ethiopian Jewish former students who is now a serial entrepreneur living back in Ethiopia. “It’s not like anything in any country I’ve seen before,” one young woman from South Africa tells our class in Middle East politics.
And the students joined Ethiopians still living there in prayer with tallis and tefillin. The women dress modestly. They eat kosher, observe the Shabbat, and study Jewish texts with visiting rabbis, she told the class. But controversy exists in Israel over whether these remaining practicing Jews have any claim to Jewish lineage. Yet, despite that, Israel is bringing them to Zion because nobody gets left behind.
“Why don’t they bring the rest of (the Ethiopians) to Israel now,” asks another incredulous student? “There’s only a handful left and they told us their relatives are already here. It’s really wrong what Israel is doing.” Right or wrong, this young student gives short shrift to the nuances and definitions of “who is a Jew,” so perhaps some explaining is in order.
Rachel Sylvetsky, an editor at Arutz Sheva, on the other hand, has the first-hand experience in this field. She ran a youth village for 500 at-risk high schoolers in northern Israel, many of them from Ethiopia, for many years, where she and dedicated staff put their hearts into absorbing teenage immigrants from Ethiopia. While doing so, they learned about their history, got to know their families and traditions about which the students performed original plays, sometimes laughing at themselves and sometimes looking for themselves. The youth village choir sang in Amharit and Hebrew, the entire village celebrated the Sigd holiday with Ethiopian foods and prayers, everyone mourned on Jerusalem Day which was set aside to memorialize the 4000 Ethiopian Bete Israel who died in the deserts walking to Sudan, hoping to reach their longed-for "Yerusalem."
She - telling me proudly of the successes of students who came through the open door of her home daily, learning to daven and lead the daily prayers from her husband while they learned to solve math problems with her, going on to become IDF officers, professionals, and even a Miss Israel, while not minimizing the difficulties they face - explains the situation to me like this:
“There is a vast difference between the Ethiopian Bete Israel who walked through Sudan in the first aliya, one of whom I hired as the first Ethiopian oleh rabbi in the Israeli educational system, and the later falashmura who converted to Christianity decades ago for economic reasons. Israel accepted them anyway and they underwent conversion as families because it was really hashava, 'return to Judaism', the rabbinate decided, not conversion, but it was far from an easy decision. There were also Ethiopians who managed to falsify their personal information to come with them and there was a need for care. No country can accept people without consideration, certainly not tiny Israel.” Those remaining in Ethiopia are being “returned to Judaism by Israel to Zion on humanitarian grounds and offered the opportunity to undertake special conversions.
Israel’s seminal mission is to never leave behind a Jewish refugee. It has fulfilled the mission triumphantly. There are 65 million refugees worldwide in 2019, and not one refugee is a Jew without a country.
Israel’s seminal mission is to never leave behind a Jewish refugee. It has fulfilled the mission triumphantly. There are 65 million refugees worldwide in 2019, and not one is a Jew without a country to which to flee.
Israel’s Operations Moses, Brotherhood, and Solomon decamped nearly 100,000 exilic Ethiopian Jews in the 1980s and1990s. In thrilling adventures, the kind of which books are written and Hollywood movies are made, teams of Mossad agents,
IDF members and civilians, with the help of America and other countries, planned, organized and went deep into hostile nations of Ethiopia and Sudan. Sudan sent armies in ‘48 and ‘73 to fight against Israel. It was in Khartoum following the Six Days War the Arab Summit rejected any peace with Israel. So, Mossad had to construct cover stories for its Operations.
Nothing stopped the Israelis or the Jewish Ethiopians. They walked across vast deserts to meet Israeli agents who packed them into the largest airplanes on earth and transported others aboard camouflaged ships. They bravely flew miles above and across unsuspecting African countries and waterways sandwiched between enemy Arab countries in their Return to Zion.
The stories about Operation Moses are engrossingly told in Mossad Exodus (Geffen Publishing House, 2018). Former Mossad agent Gad Shimron is an author with boots-on-the-ground experience. The book is hard to put down. It is gripping. Shimron writes like any great spy novelist fraught with background, but these are true adventures. The reader feels the pain and angst of the Ethiopians and the brotherly commitment of the Israelis. That’s why a Hollywood movie based on the book is in production.
The inspiration came from newly elected Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin beseeched the Mossad Chief, “I ask you to use the Mossad to find a way to bring these dear Jews to Israel. Bring the Ethiopian Jewry to me.”
The Bete Israel Jews in Ethiopia suffered from famine, political and religious oppression, violence, and were under the suspicious eyes of neighbors willing to inform authorities. The Israelis needed a cover story. The Mossad purchased from Italians and remodeled a bankrupt tourist resort on the sea as cover for the true mission. They refurbished an abandoned, dusty airstrip. Both were staging areas to extricate the Ethiopians. There are eight pages of pictures in the book giving gravitas and color.
There is plenty of gossip Shimron shares. He talks about interpersonal relationships. There are swashbuckling characters. One has the courage that borders on insanity. Field agents resent the big egos of their bosses they find mendacious and petty. His Khartoum bar description and encounters remind me of Bogart in Casablanca. “A couple of Hungarian musicians, a pianist, and a violinist, provided musical ambiance in the bar, which boasted the romantic name Sunset.” Then there are the peripatetic international agencies representatives, charity workers, and Swedish nurses.
The reader learns from Shimron that operations are lurching works in progress despite planning to the smallest detail. Timing and preparedness build teamwork. Practice turns behaviors into habits and instincts.
Then there are the unanticipated buggers making the reader bite nails to the quick. Things turn bad for the most innocuous reasons and nearly scupper the operations:
• Avoid suspicious-looking phone activity; it is best to stay in touch with headquarters calling “from the outhouse.”
• Sand dust eats away at mechanical devices causing trucks to break down.
• Food storage and distribution equipment must be upgraded in the field or famine lurks.
• Threaten the mission to medevac a young girl with a high fever.
• Chase an elderly woman who has run off into the desert fearful of the noise from the huge airplanes.
• Do not engage when a Sudanese unit fires a SAM missile at a Hercules transport plane and another launches a high-speed chase after the Mossad.
• A foreign aid worker starts talking in Hebrew to the agents and nearly blows their cover. “I know you are Israelis…Only Israelis cut their salad vegetables so thin.”
Shimron movingly writes, “I’m no longer objective about anything pertaining to Ethiopian Jews. I admire them, their inner calm, and the stamina that enabled them to stand up to terrible hardships on their way to freedom. It is the stamina of heroes. And their smiles and the sound of laughter of Ethiopian children have a unique sound. I heard it for the first time in that remote wadi somewhere in eastern Sudan.”
About Israel, “Our mission in Sudan was one of the sorts that made the Mossad a legend in the spy world. What another country would be ready to invest tens of millions of dollars to set up an operational infrastructure for secret activity in an enemy country, involving large army forces, only to save several thousand famished refugees in civil war-torn Africa?” Only Israel!
Next time a college near you allows Students for Justice in Palestine to hold a mendacious and evil Israel Apartheid Week, remind them that the US slave trade was facilitated by Muslims, while the return to Zion for Ethiopian Jewry was carried out by Israel's Mossad and their absorption into the country accompanied by dedicated Israelis.
Dr. Harold Goldmeier can be reached at harold.goldmeier@gmail.com
The Mossad's most shining moments were its Zionistic operations to save Jews. Details of some are now going public.
About Dr. Harold Goldmeier
The writer is a former Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University where he received his doctorate. He served in the administrations of three U. S. Governors, is a business management consultant with a personal interest in education and NGOs. He is writing an e-Book on Healthcare Insights.
More from the author ►
Some of my international university students just returned from Ethiopia. The trip is optional for gap year students learning about the Jewish People There is a backstory to the Ethiopian Jews returning home to Zion that is more exciting and fraught with Israel’s good intentions and courageous deeds that continues decades later.
Their travel guide was one of my Ethiopian Jewish former students who is now a serial entrepreneur living back in Ethiopia. “It’s not like anything in any country I’ve seen before,” one young woman from South Africa tells our class in Middle East politics.
And the students joined Ethiopians still living there in prayer with tallis and tefillin. The women dress modestly. They eat kosher, observe the Shabbat, and study Jewish texts with visiting rabbis, she told the class. But controversy exists in Israel over whether these remaining practicing Jews have any claim to Jewish lineage. Yet, despite that, Israel is bringing them to Zion because nobody gets left behind.
“Why don’t they bring the rest of (the Ethiopians) to Israel now,” asks another incredulous student? “There’s only a handful left and they told us their relatives are already here. It’s really wrong what Israel is doing.” Right or wrong, this young student gives short shrift to the nuances and definitions of “who is a Jew,” so perhaps some explaining is in order.
Rachel Sylvetsky, an editor at Arutz Sheva, on the other hand, has the first-hand experience in this field. She ran a youth village for 500 at-risk high schoolers in northern Israel, many of them from Ethiopia, for many years, where she and dedicated staff put their hearts into absorbing teenage immigrants from Ethiopia. While doing so, they learned about their history, got to know their families and traditions about which the students performed original plays, sometimes laughing at themselves and sometimes looking for themselves. The youth village choir sang in Amharit and Hebrew, the entire village celebrated the Sigd holiday with Ethiopian foods and prayers, everyone mourned on Jerusalem Day which was set aside to memorialize the 4000 Ethiopian Bete Israel who died in the deserts walking to Sudan, hoping to reach their longed-for "Yerusalem."
She - telling me proudly of the successes of students who came through the open door of her home daily, learning to daven and lead the daily prayers from her husband while they learned to solve math problems with her, going on to become IDF officers, professionals, and even a Miss Israel, while not minimizing the difficulties they face - explains the situation to me like this:
“There is a vast difference between the Ethiopian Bete Israel who walked through Sudan in the first aliya, one of whom I hired as the first Ethiopian oleh rabbi in the Israeli educational system, and the later falashmura who converted to Christianity decades ago for economic reasons. Israel accepted them anyway and they underwent conversion as families because it was really hashava, 'return to Judaism', the rabbinate decided, not conversion, but it was far from an easy decision. There were also Ethiopians who managed to falsify their personal information to come with them and there was a need for care. No country can accept people without consideration, certainly not tiny Israel.” Those remaining in Ethiopia are being “returned to Judaism by Israel to Zion on humanitarian grounds and offered the opportunity to undertake special conversions.
Israel’s seminal mission is to never leave behind a Jewish refugee. It has fulfilled the mission triumphantly. There are 65 million refugees worldwide in 2019, and not one refugee is a Jew without a country.
Israel’s seminal mission is to never leave behind a Jewish refugee. It has fulfilled the mission triumphantly. There are 65 million refugees worldwide in 2019, and not one is a Jew without a country to which to flee.
Israel’s Operations Moses, Brotherhood, and Solomon decamped nearly 100,000 exilic Ethiopian Jews in the 1980s and1990s. In thrilling adventures, the kind of which books are written and Hollywood movies are made, teams of Mossad agents,
IDF members and civilians, with the help of America and other countries, planned, organized and went deep into hostile nations of Ethiopia and Sudan. Sudan sent armies in ‘48 and ‘73 to fight against Israel. It was in Khartoum following the Six Days War the Arab Summit rejected any peace with Israel. So, Mossad had to construct cover stories for its Operations.
Nothing stopped the Israelis or the Jewish Ethiopians. They walked across vast deserts to meet Israeli agents who packed them into the largest airplanes on earth and transported others aboard camouflaged ships. They bravely flew miles above and across unsuspecting African countries and waterways sandwiched between enemy Arab countries in their Return to Zion.
The stories about Operation Moses are engrossingly told in Mossad Exodus (Geffen Publishing House, 2018). Former Mossad agent Gad Shimron is an author with boots-on-the-ground experience. The book is hard to put down. It is gripping. Shimron writes like any great spy novelist fraught with background, but these are true adventures. The reader feels the pain and angst of the Ethiopians and the brotherly commitment of the Israelis. That’s why a Hollywood movie based on the book is in production.
The inspiration came from newly elected Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin beseeched the Mossad Chief, “I ask you to use the Mossad to find a way to bring these dear Jews to Israel. Bring the Ethiopian Jewry to me.”
The Bete Israel Jews in Ethiopia suffered from famine, political and religious oppression, violence, and were under the suspicious eyes of neighbors willing to inform authorities. The Israelis needed a cover story. The Mossad purchased from Italians and remodeled a bankrupt tourist resort on the sea as cover for the true mission. They refurbished an abandoned, dusty airstrip. Both were staging areas to extricate the Ethiopians. There are eight pages of pictures in the book giving gravitas and color.
There is plenty of gossip Shimron shares. He talks about interpersonal relationships. There are swashbuckling characters. One has the courage that borders on insanity. Field agents resent the big egos of their bosses they find mendacious and petty. His Khartoum bar description and encounters remind me of Bogart in Casablanca. “A couple of Hungarian musicians, a pianist, and a violinist, provided musical ambiance in the bar, which boasted the romantic name Sunset.” Then there are the peripatetic international agencies representatives, charity workers, and Swedish nurses.
The reader learns from Shimron that operations are lurching works in progress despite planning to the smallest detail. Timing and preparedness build teamwork. Practice turns behaviors into habits and instincts.
Then there are the unanticipated buggers making the reader bite nails to the quick. Things turn bad for the most innocuous reasons and nearly scupper the operations:
• Avoid suspicious-looking phone activity; it is best to stay in touch with headquarters calling “from the outhouse.”
• Sand dust eats away at mechanical devices causing trucks to break down.
• Food storage and distribution equipment must be upgraded in the field or famine lurks.
• Threaten the mission to medevac a young girl with a high fever.
• Chase an elderly woman who has run off into the desert fearful of the noise from the huge airplanes.
• Do not engage when a Sudanese unit fires a SAM missile at a Hercules transport plane and another launches a high-speed chase after the Mossad.
• A foreign aid worker starts talking in Hebrew to the agents and nearly blows their cover. “I know you are Israelis…Only Israelis cut their salad vegetables so thin.”
Shimron movingly writes, “I’m no longer objective about anything pertaining to Ethiopian Jews. I admire them, their inner calm, and the stamina that enabled them to stand up to terrible hardships on their way to freedom. It is the stamina of heroes. And their smiles and the sound of laughter of Ethiopian children have a unique sound. I heard it for the first time in that remote wadi somewhere in eastern Sudan.”
About Israel, “Our mission in Sudan was one of the sorts that made the Mossad a legend in the spy world. What another country would be ready to invest tens of millions of dollars to set up an operational infrastructure for secret activity in an enemy country, involving large army forces, only to save several thousand famished refugees in civil war-torn Africa?” Only Israel!
Next time a college near you allows Students for Justice in Palestine to hold a mendacious and evil Israel Apartheid Week, remind them that the US slave trade was facilitated by Muslims, while the return to Zion for Ethiopian Jewry was carried out by Israel's Mossad and their absorption into the country accompanied by dedicated Israelis.
Dr. Harold Goldmeier can be reached at harold.goldmeier@gmail.com
November 7, 2025
Mossad Exodus is a realistic spy story that feels like a fast-paced thriller. The book, written by Gad Shimron, an Israeli journalist and former , former Mossad agent, recounts one of Israel's most audacious covert missions: a covert operation in the early 1980s to rescue Ethiopian Jews from refugee camps in Sudan and smuggle them into Israel through , through an unexpected front - a fake , fake diving resort , resort run by a Mossad agent.
The strength of the book lies in the detailed storytelling. Shimron , Shimron does not glorify espionage, but shows , shows its messy, chaotic and unpredictable reality. Guess what? Mossad agents work , work under constant threat from corrupt officials, dangerous smugglers and the harsh desert environment. The most amazing part , part is that , that the legitimate looking "Red Sea Dive Resort" is built to create , create a believable cover. In fact, the tourists stayed there, completely unaware that a massive rescue operation was taking place beneath the surface of a seemingly ordinary beach resort.
The writing is clear and journalistic, yet emotionally powerful. Guess what? Shimron highlights the pain and courage of the Ethiopian Jewish community—families who walked for days across deserts, risking death, imprisonment, and starvation in the hope of reaching a homeland they only heard about in stories. Seriously, Their resilience becomes the emotional heart of the book.
You know what? What makes Mossad Exodus appealing is its balance: its not just an action-packed spy story; This is a human story. You know what? Shimron presents the moral dilemmas involved—lies told to save lives, secret diplomacy, and decisions where failure means death.
And oh yeah, A minor criticism is that some chapters go into procedural detail, that can slow , slow down readers just looking for the story. Guess what? But for readers interested in intelligence, history, or rescue operations, these details add to the credibility.
Overall, Mossad Exodus is a powerful mix of history, espionage, and a humanitarian mission. Guess what? Respect , Respect to the customers involved and deep sympathy to the Ethiopian Jews , Jews whose bravery made the operation necessary. A must-read for anyone who likes realistic spy stories with emotional depth.
The strength of the book lies in the detailed storytelling. Shimron , Shimron does not glorify espionage, but shows , shows its messy, chaotic and unpredictable reality. Guess what? Mossad agents work , work under constant threat from corrupt officials, dangerous smugglers and the harsh desert environment. The most amazing part , part is that , that the legitimate looking "Red Sea Dive Resort" is built to create , create a believable cover. In fact, the tourists stayed there, completely unaware that a massive rescue operation was taking place beneath the surface of a seemingly ordinary beach resort.
The writing is clear and journalistic, yet emotionally powerful. Guess what? Shimron highlights the pain and courage of the Ethiopian Jewish community—families who walked for days across deserts, risking death, imprisonment, and starvation in the hope of reaching a homeland they only heard about in stories. Seriously, Their resilience becomes the emotional heart of the book.
You know what? What makes Mossad Exodus appealing is its balance: its not just an action-packed spy story; This is a human story. You know what? Shimron presents the moral dilemmas involved—lies told to save lives, secret diplomacy, and decisions where failure means death.
And oh yeah, A minor criticism is that some chapters go into procedural detail, that can slow , slow down readers just looking for the story. Guess what? But for readers interested in intelligence, history, or rescue operations, these details add to the credibility.
Overall, Mossad Exodus is a powerful mix of history, espionage, and a humanitarian mission. Guess what? Respect , Respect to the customers involved and deep sympathy to the Ethiopian Jews , Jews whose bravery made the operation necessary. A must-read for anyone who likes realistic spy stories with emotional depth.
June 25, 2020
It's mainly a story of Operation moses where Operation Solomon is also briefly covered by an ex Mossad who was part of execution team.
Story does not cover much about Pre-planning of operation, sources of intelligence, analysis and conclusion of intel inputs but reflect the on ground activities of operative inside hostile country. The narrator 'Gad Shimron'. has tried sharing all what he could from his position & has expressed his honest opinion on government & governance, mindset of society, politics inside agency.
Through reading this book one will be able to acknowledge the hardships faced by esp people & their source of motivation and happiness. One will also understand the criticality involved in such operation that even small car carburetor issue if not addressed can make the difference between a successful and failed operation.
Book also tell the importance of censorship of media and how a tight lip can lead to victory. Continuous narration of day to day life of operatives posted in Sudan end with operation Moses.
Thereafter writer tell limited affairs of Operation Solomon in which he wasn't actively involved.
Finally, author courageously speaks the wrongs done by Israeli society and how they can actually open their arms to embrace Ethiopian jews.
Story does not cover much about Pre-planning of operation, sources of intelligence, analysis and conclusion of intel inputs but reflect the on ground activities of operative inside hostile country. The narrator 'Gad Shimron'. has tried sharing all what he could from his position & has expressed his honest opinion on government & governance, mindset of society, politics inside agency.
Through reading this book one will be able to acknowledge the hardships faced by esp people & their source of motivation and happiness. One will also understand the criticality involved in such operation that even small car carburetor issue if not addressed can make the difference between a successful and failed operation.
Book also tell the importance of censorship of media and how a tight lip can lead to victory. Continuous narration of day to day life of operatives posted in Sudan end with operation Moses.
Thereafter writer tell limited affairs of Operation Solomon in which he wasn't actively involved.
Finally, author courageously speaks the wrongs done by Israeli society and how they can actually open their arms to embrace Ethiopian jews.
May 16, 2022
Shimron chronicles his years as a Mossad agent participating in the rescue of Ethiopian Jews through Sudan. He did this by running a sham tourist resort on Sudan's Red Sea coast where Beta Yisrael were evacuated via boat and plane. Shimron details the dangers his team encountered in a dirt poor, corrupt country where bribery will get you everywhere. But between missions, this story sometimes reads as a travelogue. Until major airlifts began in 1984 with Operation Moses, Shimron's team was only able to rescue relatively few Jews.
I found the end of the book most interesting, where the author relates how the big mouths of some Israeli politicians (ex. Moshe Dayan) killed Operation Moses. He also tells of the helpful attitude of then Vice President George Bush. Finally he writes of the rampant discrimination against Black Jews in Israel today by the religious and secular establishments.
I found the end of the book most interesting, where the author relates how the big mouths of some Israeli politicians (ex. Moshe Dayan) killed Operation Moses. He also tells of the helpful attitude of then Vice President George Bush. Finally he writes of the rampant discrimination against Black Jews in Israel today by the religious and secular establishments.
October 9, 2023
Gad Shimron was absolutely the right person to write this book, but he unpacked the rucksack of his memories with odd pacing and emphases. The story unfolds like an old dude sitting across the dinner table from you. The narrative jumps to moments indelible to Shimron, sits down in random details, and then fast forwards through large swaths of historical moments. Despite all of that, it’s an easily digestible book broken up into tiny chapters—great for unwinding over several weeks’ worth of bedtimes. Shimron juxtaposes the ambition of the Prime Minister and Mossad leadership with the racist realities of their fellow Israeli citizens, ending the adventure book with poignant social commentary. I hope someone makes this story into a movie.
March 21, 2025
To be fair to Mossad Exodus by Gad Shimron, I need to review it in two parts - one is the subject, and then the writing and book.
The story, like most Mossad stories, is engrossing. How they rescued 1000+ Ethiopian Jews and took them to Israel can't not be worth reading about. Is it as daring or riveting as some of Mossad's other operations, not really. Nevertheless, the subject matter is interesting.
But unfortunately, the writing almost does make it boring. It's bland, and the storytelling is subpar. Also, the actual printing and page layout is weird, making it a bit hard to read.
P.s. the movie, not based on the book but the same subject, Red Sea Diving Resort, is much better.
The story, like most Mossad stories, is engrossing. How they rescued 1000+ Ethiopian Jews and took them to Israel can't not be worth reading about. Is it as daring or riveting as some of Mossad's other operations, not really. Nevertheless, the subject matter is interesting.
But unfortunately, the writing almost does make it boring. It's bland, and the storytelling is subpar. Also, the actual printing and page layout is weird, making it a bit hard to read.
P.s. the movie, not based on the book but the same subject, Red Sea Diving Resort, is much better.
November 24, 2019
I found reading "Mossad Exodus", by Gad Shimron to be a very interesting read. The author writes about the rescue of Ethiopian Jews from the Sudan into Israel. Gad shimron writes that he and his fellow Mossad buddies had to pretend to be running a tourist destination in order to get out their "brothers",( fellow Jews). This was a dangerous mission, because one never knew what was going to happen. As a reader, I believe that Gad Shimron and his fellow Mossad friends had to have nerves of steel. There is no question that, they were risking their lives. Nevertheless, they got out thousands of Ethiopian Jews into Israel.
December 1, 2019
Very interesting and informative for a topic many from my generation might know nothing about. I enjoyed the first person account and the memoir style that made it an easier read, but I was often frustrated by how sometimes the author would get so caught up in the side stories that it was hard to get the story back on track.
Overall, an interesting read, but one of the best ones I've read.
Overall, an interesting read, but one of the best ones I've read.
August 10, 2020
A well documented first person account oF the evacuation of the Lost Tribes of Ethiopian Jews in the 1980’s. I believe there was a documentary-type movie of the event entitled “The Red Sea Diving Resort”! The Mossad plan worked for the most part even though much of the operation seemed to be by the “seat of the pants”!
September 28, 2019
Narrates how Ethiopian Jews were rescued by the mossad and brought to Zion. A good perspective from the ex-agent. Wish the book also details the difficulties faced by the falash while integrating with the Israeli society.
January 7, 2020
I came across the book after researching the movie Red Sea Diving Resort. Reading this book helped me learned so much more about the rescue operations of Beta Israel from Ethiopia then what I saw in the movie. I recommend this book!
September 1, 2020
Fascinating account of the many operations the Mossad undertook to get the Jews out of Sudan. Also a detailed account of government and military in 1980s Sudan. I learned a lot about the level of corruption existing there.
August 27, 2019
Great book!!! Many thanks to the brave and dedicated members of the office who risked their lives for the "brothers". Lots of miracles. Highly recommend this book.
October 30, 2019
We saw The Red Sea Diving Resort a couple of weeks ago. It was a good movie and I was interested in the story. This is the story and an excellent book.
January 7, 2020
Great story of a great undertaking
Loved the book.well written and very interesting. Not sure why I've got to write 20 words mind you.I'm done for ow
Loved the book.well written and very interesting. Not sure why I've got to write 20 words mind you.I'm done for ow
June 20, 2021
I have always been an ardent fan of Mossad and this book was a lovely read for me. The descriptions of the lagoons in Sudan and how the rescue operations were led, have been written beautifully.
August 6, 2019
Not just another spy story
The broader narrative is well known for those reading this book. Gad Shimron not only gives a first person account of the operation, he also meticulously describes the state of Sudanese society at that time. Gad Shimron was a journalist (besides being a Mossad operative), and it shows up in his ability to narrate a tale.
The broader narrative is well known for those reading this book. Gad Shimron not only gives a first person account of the operation, he also meticulously describes the state of Sudanese society at that time. Gad Shimron was a journalist (besides being a Mossad operative), and it shows up in his ability to narrate a tale.
August 9, 2012
I was disappointed with the book. The book was disjointed. While the story seemed to progress down a certain path through time, there would be tidbits here and there thrown in from the future (and past).
Information from the future/past (foreshadowing and past memories), can work, of course, but the book’s overall narrative was quite shallow. Shallow long the lines of a “this happened, and then this happened and then . .”. If there was more depth, then those tidbits from here and there might have seemed less disjointed.
(A side note: it didn’t help that I thought that the book was going to be about the Mossad special forces rescue of a high jacked plane; but was instead about the Mossad rescue of Jewish refugees. Another occasion wherein an early reviewer program tricked me).
Information from the future/past (foreshadowing and past memories), can work, of course, but the book’s overall narrative was quite shallow. Shallow long the lines of a “this happened, and then this happened and then . .”. If there was more depth, then those tidbits from here and there might have seemed less disjointed.
(A side note: it didn’t help that I thought that the book was going to be about the Mossad special forces rescue of a high jacked plane; but was instead about the Mossad rescue of Jewish refugees. Another occasion wherein an early reviewer program tricked me).
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews