Pressure from American Jews and the Jewish Agency for Israel resulted in stepped-up efforts to bring to Israel those Ethiopian Jews who were left behind in previous emigration operations.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli officials were highly concerned about media leaks similar to the one that happened in 1985, when Ethiopia stopped Operation Moses.

"The agreement with Ethiopia was not to embarrass them," an agency official said of the latest transport. "How don't you embarrass them? Not to have an official press conference. That's why when that first flight landed, there was nobody there at the airport."