On January 5, 1985, Operation Moses was completed. This operation was the culmination of seven weeks’ worth of undercover missions that brought about 8,000 Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, to Israel. By the early 1980s, with increasing instability and famine impacting their country, some Ethiopian Jews began the trek on foot from the Gondar region in Ethiopia through Sudan to Israel. Most of them did not make it past Sudan due to starvation, dehydration, and border checks, and many began resettling in Sudanese refugee camps. Over 4,000 Beta Israel died on the way to or in the camps due to malnutrition and disease. As such, it became evident to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin that there was a dire need to provide safe passage for these Jews. Thus, Operation Moses was initiated. On November 21, 1984, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with help from the CIA, the U.S. Embassy, and a few officials within the Sudanese government, began secretly airlifting Beta Israel to Israel.Operation Moses is considered the first Aliyah of Beta Israel, followed by Operation Solomon in 1991 and various others in the last 10 years.