The real Mossad ‘Red Sea Diving Resort’ agent – In Person on December 22
Times of Israel’s Judah Ari Gross in-conversation with Daniel Limor, Mossad agent who helped bring thousands of Ethiopian Jews home
Former Mossad agent Daniel Limor and his story were recently portrayed in the Hollywood blockbuster film, “Red Sea Diving Resort” produced by Netflix. The film is based on the Arous Resort, set up to be the cover for the Mossad’s Operation Brothers to bring 17,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel under prime minister Menachem Begin in the early 1980s.
Limor, who was a diving aficionado, spotted the holiday resort built by Italian entrepreneurs in the 1970s along the Red Sea that had been abandoned due to lack of road access and running water. At the time, Ethiopian Jews had fled their country for refugee camps in neighboring Sudan to escape famine, war and persecution, with the goal of ultimately fulfilling the isolated community’s dream of reaching the Holy Land.
This-real life Zionist James Bond story deserves to be told firsthand by the man who was able to enact his grand vision for helping his fellow Jews in need.
Daniel Limor was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay. At the age 16, he went alone to Israel with the Youth Aliyah. He spent three years engaged in yeshiva studies followed by his IDF military service as an officer in the paratroopers. Daniel has a degree from Bar Ilan University in Political Science and International Relations. Daniel spent 25 years in the Mossad. Among other tasks, he became responsible at Mossad HQ and in the field for the undercover aliyah of Ethiopian Jews through Sudan. After retirement, he still conducted projects for the Prime Minister’s Office, until recently, and is now engaged in the mapping of emerging Jewish communities around the world for the Diaspora Ministry. He is also a founding member and chairman of the board of the Nachshon School for Social Leadership. Daniel is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic.
Our evening will begin with an open wine bar and the first night of Hanukkah candle lighting in honor of Hannah Szenes, a hero of the Jewish People, who parachuted into Nazi-controlled Europe to attempt and save Jews from the horrors of the Shoah.
Our Salon talk with Daniel will be moderated by ToI’s military correspondent Judah Ari Gross and be hosted at the New Social Space at The Colosseum. This nonprofit organization has revitalized a landmark venue in Kikar Atarim at the end of Ben Gurion Boulevard overlooking Gordon Beach in Tel Aviv. The goal of the organization is to create a welcoming environment for social entrepreneurs and facilitate encounters between people from different backgrounds, while also inviting different groups to use the space, meet, and talk to each other.
The Tel Aviv International Salon is the largest speakers forum in Israel. The nonprofit organization was established in 2009 to provide a challenging and thought-provoking nonpartisan platform for the Tel Aviv young professional community. With an increasing number of motivated young adults from around the globe choosing to make Tel Aviv their home, the Salon provides a unique forum to learn, debate and discuss Israeli, Jewish and world politics, economics, society, and culture with a diverse range of engaging decision makers and leading influencers.