Operation Babylon is the story of Shlomo Hillel and his efforts to bring Jews from Iraq to Israel. Jews came under increasing pressure in Iraq during the time he was active for several reasons. The first is that the British, who had considerable influence in the country, were trying to negotiate a new contract with the Iraqi government that would maintain their position of considerable influence. There was a lot of anger about this among the Iraqi population and the government worked, successfully, to turn that anger against the Jews. The second reason is that when Israel gained nationhood, hostilities against Iraqi Jews increased. Zionism and Judaism were considered the same thing even when they clearly were not. Hillel worked as a member of the Mossad and found many creative ways to bring Jews safely to Israel, even against major obstacles as diverse as crashes and convoys overturning in sandstorms. Iraq's Jewish smuggling began by organizing convoys of Jews to Israel with the “Lords of the Desert” but this group proved unreliable. Palestine became embroiled in Arab-Jewish violence which distracted from immigration efforts and Hillel became very frustrated with the Mossad as it almost completely stopped bringing in more Jews. Iraqi Jews are forced to pay independent smugglers to bring them in, who charge large sums and were often unreliable. Hillel began bringing Jews through the Tel Aviv airport. These operations were quite successful, although they occasionally ran into problems as the airport was run by the British who were under strict orders not to let in any Jews. It was also difficult to bring Jews from the airport to Tel Aviv because the roads were very dangerous. In Iraq the...... middle of paper ...... much about the politics of the area and that he was traveling with a completely clueless partner. It highlights the lack of resources that both the Mossad and Israel as a whole had at the time, and serves as a testament to what they were able to do with so little. As much as Israel was able to overcome adversity and establish itself as a country, Operation Babylon is an inspiring story about the completion of a noble cause. While others were distracted by “more important” issues, Hillel put the spotlight on the plight of Iraqi Jews. Others certainly played an important role in saving them, and Hillel certainly couldn't have done it alone, but his determination is worthy of praise. It has undoubtedly saved countless lives. His work is even more impressive looking back, since the Ba'ath Party took power it sought to kill the country's Jews.