LINDA SCHERZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An historic flight to freedom: 15,000 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated to Israel in a race against the clock. By the time Operation Solomon had ended, 21 hours after it began, every known Jew in Addis Ababa had arrived in his promised land.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel a great happiness; how can I tell you?</s>SCHERZER: With rebel forces closing in on Addis Ababa and the country ravaged by civil war, the Israeli government knew that it had very little time left to get the Jewish people out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't know what would happen to them with the change of regime or change of government, and the rebels on the way in and the government on the way out.</s>SCHERZER: Most of the Ethiopians hadn't ever seen an airplane, much less flown on one. They all arrived with only the clothes they were wearing, their worldly possessions stuffed into plastic bags, facing a future of uncertain job opportunities in Israel and housing shortages. (on camera): Until this massive airlift began, only a trickle of Ethiopian Jews were allowed to leave their country, and the Mangistu government was using these people as bargaining chips, to extract money from the state of Israel. (voice-over): Safe, in a country and culture worlds away from everything they've ever known. But if their future is somewhat uncertain, it is secure. After 2500 years dispersed in Ethiopia, this lost tribe of Israel has found its way home.
CNN 20: Israel Airlifts Ethiopian Jews, May 25, 1991