# Operation Yachin

Operation Yakhin was an operation led by Israel's Mossad in coordination with the Moroccan state to discretely emigrate Moroccan Jews to Israel between November 1961 and spring 1964. In the arrangement, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), an American organization, paid King Hassan II of Morocco a per capita fee for every Moroccan Jew who migrated to Israel. About 90,000 to 97,000 left for Israel by plane and ship from Casablanca and Tangier via France and Italy.
The accession of Hassan II on 26 February 1961 enabled negotiations to begin on a secret agreement between Mossad's "Misgeret" division and the Moroccan authorities (principally Prince Moulay Ali and labour minister Abdelkader Benjelloun [fr]), together with the American organisation HIAS. An economic arrangement was agreed between Israel and Morocco, with the agreement of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and King Hassan II of Morocco, whereby $500,000 would be paid as a downpayment, plus $100 per emigrant for the first 50,000 Moroccan Jews, and then, $250 per emigrant thereafter. The operation also received important help from Francoist Spain. However, some Jews settled in France, Canada and the United States instead of in Israel. Morocco received "indemnities" for the loss of the Jews.
The operation was fronted by the US-based HIAS, which financed approximately 50 million US dollars of costs.

## Etymology

The operation's name Yachin was of Biblical origin, being the name of one of the two central pillars that supported the Holy Temple built in Jerusalem by King Solomon, and because Israel regarded immigration as a major pillar that supported the existence of the Jewish state.

## Background

Upon Moroccan independence from French colonial rule in 1956, full rights and status were conferred to the Jewish population under the subsequent reign of Mohammed V. Nonetheless, immigration to Israel continued. In 1959, under pressure from the Arab League and facing the specter of the Jewish population's continued decline, emigration to Israel was prohibited, narrowing Jews' options for leaving the country. Despite retention efforts, Moroccan immigration to Israel rose to approximately 95,000 Jews for the period spanning 1952–1960.
The formal prohibition on emigration remained in place only through February 1961. While the formal prohibition was ended, Mohammed V maintained a clear public preference that the Jewish community remain within Morocco and barred foreign action to facilitate or encourage emigration. Beginning in 1960, Israeli authorities engaged Moroccan officials in discussions intended to negotiate the facilitation of Jewish immigration to Israel with official (or, at least semi-official) blessing. Even with the removal of the prohibition on such movement, these talks continued. Eventually, this evolved into Operation Yakhin.
On 10 January 1961 a small boat called Egoz carrying 44 Jewish emigrants sank on the northern coast of Morocco. This created a crisis both for the Moroccan authorities and for the foreign aid groups responsible for assisting the refugees.

## Migration

During Operation Yachin, 17.9% of the Jewish population of Tangier, 77.2% for Marrakesh, and 54.5% from Casablanca were migrated to Israel.

## Impact

In Kathy Wazana's 2013 film They Were Promised the Sea, Simon Levy, founder of the Moroccan Jewish Museum, noted that the trucks and planes that took the Jews away were Moroccan, which added to the trauma. Susan Gilson Miller described the departure of the majority of Jews from Morocco as "monumental national tragedy."

## Notable people

Shas politician Ya'akov Margi, born in 1960, was brought to Israel during Operation Yachin in 1962.