U.S., Israel Put Secrecy Lid on Falasha Airlift

The United States and Israel, apparently fearful of embarrassing Sudan, attempted to clamp a lid of secrecy Saturday over the U.S.-organized airlift of the last group of Ethiopian Jews in that Arab country. However, Reagan Administration officials privately confirmed that more than 500 Jewish refugees, called Falashas, were flown to Israel on Friday in the operation, which was planned by the CIA and carried out by the U.S. Air Force.

The refugees, who were flown from a gravel airstrip on Sudan’s eastern plains to a military airfield near the Israeli town of Lod, are being housed at an immigrant absorption center in Acre on Israel’s northern coast, Israeli sources said.

Reagan Declines Comment

President Reagan, asked at a White House ceremony Saturday about the top-secret airlift, hesitated for a moment and said only: “No comment.” The State Department, Pentagon and CIA all followed suit.

Israel’s military censors imposed a blackout on the story of the rescue mission, keeping it off the government-run broadcast networks, although Israelis learned about the operation from foreign radio newscasts.

U.S. officials refused to say publicly why they did not want the airlift reported. However, the Administration appeared to fear that if the operation embarrassed Sudanese President Jaafar Numeiri, any later attempt to move the estimated 6,000 to 10,000 Jews still in Ethiopia might be complicated. Numeiri approved the rescue and provided security forces to protect it, even though his country, as a member of the Arab League, considers Israel an enemy.

The one-day rescue mission plucked the Jewish refugees, known in the Ethiopian language of Amharic as Falashas, out of a remote camp in eastern Sudan, where they had fled from the famine in their native land.

It was the second such rescue operation. About 7,800 Falashas were taken from Sudan to Israel from Nov. 21 to Jan. 6 in a secret airlift called Operation Moses, which ended two days after news of that exodus leaked in Israel. The CIA-organized operation on Friday was intended to move those who were missed in the earlier attempt.

The unusually stringent Israeli censorship of the story appeared to reflect government sensitivity over the handling of Operation Moses, which was still underway--but came to a sudden halt--when Israeli officials publicly confirmed its existence.

The Times waited until Friday’s U.S.-run airlift was completed before revealing it.

U.S. Planes Used

Times correspondent Charles T. Powers learned of the operation before it happened, traveled overland to the airfield at Gedaref about 200 miles southeast of Khartoum, and was held by Sudanese security police while at least 12 U.S. C--130 transport planes landed, loaded their passengers and took off again.

Powers reported that as many as 900 Ethiopian Jews were believed to be living in straw huts at the nearby Tawawa refugee camp before the airlift, and that their section of the camp was deserted afterward. However, other estimates put the number of Falashas in Tawawa at fewer than that. One U.S. official here said that the number taken to Israel was “more than 500,” but refused to provide further information.

After Operation Moses was aborted, Israeli sources estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 Falashas remained in Sudan. As many as 200 have reportedly flown on regular commercial flights from Khartoum to destinations in Europe and then on to Israel. However, refugee officials in Sudan said that the Tawawa Jews were believed to be the last substantial group of Falashas in the country.

Some Still in Ethiopia

U.S. officials estimated that another 7,000 to 10,000 Falashas are still in Ethiopia; Israeli sources put the number at 6,000 to 8,000.

The numbers are uncertain in part because there are no reliable records of refugee movements during the famine, and in part because the Falashas--a persecuted minority in Marxist Ethiopia--were not officially recognized as Jews by the Israeli government until 1975. Ethiopian legend holds that the black Jews are descendants of Hebrews who accompanied Menelik, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, on his return to Africa.

The Falashas speak a dialect of Hebrew that is different from the modern tongue spoken in Israel, and those airlifted on Friday will be put through an orientation program that includes Hebrew language lessons.

The evacuation of the Falashas is a delicate matter for the Sudanese government, which is allied with the United States but also tries to maintain close relations with the rest of the Arab world. When Operation Moses was revealed, it was denounced by several Arab states, but most of the criticism was directed at Israel rather than Sudan.

Numeiri to Visit U.S.

In an interview after the first airlift, Numeiri said: “I won’t help Israel by sending them more people. But if they want to go away from here--to Europe, to the United States, to any place else--I don’t care.”

Sources in Khartoum said that President Numeiri may withstand any criticism for the new airlift by saying that the United States told him the Falashas would not be taken to Israel. Numeiri approved the rescue operation in a meeting with Vice President George Bush on March 6, while Bush was in Sudan touring the refugee camps, sources said.

Numeiri will meet with President Reagan this week when he comes to the United States for a private visit and medical check-up, the Sudanese government news agency announced Saturday. Numeiri plans to fly to the United States on Wednesday, the agency said.

Diplomats said a major item on the two presidents’ agenda will presumably be U.S. aid for Sudan’s drought-stricken economy. Earlier this year, the United States froze $189 million in development aid because Sudan had failed to implement an International Monetary Fund program for economic reform, but later Washington resumed sending aid in installments.