Operation Solomon, which took place in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, on May 24 and 25, 1991, flew about 15,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The operation, which was concluded in a time span of about 30 hours, was a cooperative effort between the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency, El-Al and various security organs, including ISA.

As part of the Operation, ISA was responsible for the protection of the Addis Ababa embassy throughout all the Operation's stages, guarding the bus convoy, which transported the immigrants from the embassy courtyard to the airport, as well as securing the airlift to Israel.

One can grasp this complex and unique operation from the testimony of one of the security guards: "imagine tens of thousands of fans squeezing in to see the Champions League finals in the central football stadium through one narrow gate"…

And indeed, thousands of immigrants with their luggage, who had been waiting for days for their evacuation, crowded inside the inner courtyard of the embassy in Addis Ababa in complete chaos. The stress and crowdedness caused children to separate from their parents and several people to faint. In order to allow the proper screening and registration of the immigrants, a long queue had been arranged opposite the embassy's only entrance.

The security guards, who were busy guarding the embassy's outer perimeter, controlled and supervised the entering crowd in order o prevent from terrorists to take advantage of the crowdedness and infiltrate into the embassy. They acted as ushers, hurrying the already screened immigrants onto the long convoy of buses, on their way to the airport.

One of the "none-protective" problems which needed to be solved was how to allow the buses into the crowded embassy courtyard, and more importantly, how to let them quickly depart without having to maneuver on the inner narrow road. 

The solution was allowing each bus to enter separately in reverse gear, slowly and carefully up to the building's entrance, while the drivers, who knew not one word in English, are being directed by the guards merely by hands' signs.

The overall clatter in the embassy inner yard, forced the security guards to guard the buses from behind and up-front and even assist the drivers in holding the steering-wheel, to prevent possible harming of the immigrants and particularly the numerous children running around.

Upon leaving the embassy compound, the guards worked to keep the convoy closely together, so as not to allow passers by to get in between the vehicles, endangering themselves as well as disrupting the traffic.

After leaving the embassy, the armed security guards escorted the immigrants' convoys on their way from the city to the airport as well as their boarding the airplanes.

Fortunately enough, the operation was successfully and efficiently completed. ISA personnel returned home like the other Israeli personnel, proud and gratified for having taken part in such an unprecedented historical event.