Operation Moses, (Hebrew: מבצע משה‎, Mivtza Moshe), named after the biblical figure Moses, was the covert removal of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community) from Sudan during a famine in 1984. The operation was a cooperative effort between the Israel Defense Forces, the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States embassy in Khartoum, mercenaries and Sudanese state security forces.