Operation Magic Carpet was an airlift to bring the Yemenite Jewish community to Israel organized by the government of Israel, the Imam of Yemen, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the British authorities in Aden. The airlift brought over 50,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel between June 1949 and September 1950. Although the secret airlift was considered a success for the large number of Jewish immigrants it brought to Israel, Yemenite immigrants were often forced to live in substandard ma’abarot (transit camp) housing once they got to Israel and over 850 Yemenite Jews died in the operation.
http://www.haaretz.com/culture/books/the-frayed-truth-of-operation-magic-carpet-1.432991
