Arous Holiday Village seemed like an idyllic vacation destination.
In the early 1980s, hundreds of tourists flocked to its sandy white beaches and explored its underwater worlds with beautiful coral reefs. And while its location on the coast of Sudan may not have been an obvious choice for sun-seekers, given the country’s history of conflict and drought, brochures distributed across European travel agencies emphasized the regular flight routes from London, Paris and Rome to Khartoum, as well as the warm temperatures and pleasant sea breezes. But there was much more than met the eye at the popular beach resort, and that story is the inspiration for new Netflix film The Red Sea Diving Resort. Starring Chris Evans, Michael K. Williams and Haley Bennett, The Red Sea Diving Resort is based on true events, namely the Operation Brothers mission which ran from 1979 to 1984 and saved the lives of thousands of Ethiopian Jews. In reality, and as depicted in the film, an abandoned hotel did serve as the perfect cover for a risky operation smuggling Ethiopian Jewish refugees through the hotel on the East African coast, sending them onwards by boat to safety and new lives in Israel. Official information related to the mission was declassified only in recent years. Some critics have called out The Red Sea Diving Resort for putting forth a “white-savior” narrative, privileging the roles of the Israeli Mossad agents led by Evans’ character Ari Levinson. Director Gideon Raff said in a statement that the Ethiopian community “were true partners in this operation and they are the real heroes of this story,” noting that it was important to him to cast actors from the Ethiopian community in the film. The movie’s release also comes at a tense moment in Israel, where large-scale protests flared up in early July after the shooting of 18-year-old Solomon Tekah, marking the 11th Ethiopian Israeli killed by police in the past 20 years. Tekah’s death sharpened focus on the grievances of Israel’s 150,000-strong Ethiopian community, members of which have voiced their frustrations against racism and discrimination in the country since the first major waves of immigration that started with these operations in 1980s. Here’s a closer look back at the history behind the true events that inspired The Red Sea Diving Resort:
Why were Ethiopian Jews fleeing their home country?
Why were Israeli agents involved in refugee rescue operations?
In The Red Sea Diving Resort, Evans’ character Ari Levinson hatches a bold plan: to renovate an abandoned Italian hotel on the coast of Sudan, eight hours’ drive from the capital of Khartoum, and use it as a cover to smuggle Ethiopian Jews from refugee camps to Israel via boat. Israeli officers initially react with skepticism at the proposal, but decide to entrust Levinson with planning the operation and recruiting fellow Mossad agents from around the world to help him.
While this scene appears to have added a touch of dramatic flair, Mossad agents certainly were instrumental in scouting out possible locations that could act as a cover to transport the refugees to safety, as well as eventually running the real-life resort. But the origins of Operation Brothers were also due in large part to the efforts of activists from the Ethiopian Jewish community. “Initially Israeli authorities were contacted by Ethiopian Beta Israel activists asking if they could help. There definitely was a demand,” says Abbink. One of these activists was Farede Yazazao Aklum, who was the inspiration for Williams’ character. After fleeing his home in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, and walking the grueling 300 miles to Khartoum, Sudan, Aklum wrote a letter that triggered Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to task Mossad agents with the rescue of the Beta Israel.
Earlier in the 1970s, smaller numbers of Ethiopian Jews were transported to safety by plane from Khartoum and welcomed in Israel. Larger Mossad-led operations including Operation Brothers, and the later Operation Moses (1984-1985) and Operation Solomon (1991), were responsible for the arrival of an estimated 90,000 members of the community in Israel by the end of the 1990s. “In the case of the Beta Israel, this was the only example where another country was willing and able to help the people, and adopt the people,” says Abbink. “Many other refugees remained, and still are in Sudan, because no country is really ready to take them in. But the Israeli government made a commitment to take their people in.”
Did an escape mission really happen at a hotel in Sudan?
Was the mission successful?
As a boy, Daniel Sahalo and his family fled from Ethiopia via Sudan to Israel as part of Operation Moses, which airlifted over 7,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1984-1985. “There was just a rumor that we needed to get to Sudan and from there we might be able to get help,” he said in a video interview. Sahalo worked as an historical consultant on The Red Sea Diving Resort, saying that the film was important to tell to future generations because “these people risked their lives every day for almost three years.”
The original version of this story misstated The Red Sea Diving Resort’s connection to Mossad Exodus: The Daring Undercover Rescue of the Lost Jewish Tribe, by Gad Shimron. The film is not associated with the book.