The Red Sea Diving Resort is counted as one of the best works of Chris Evans in a spy thriller film which is also a true story. The movie is also popular with the name Operation Brothers and was released in 2019 by Netflix after being premiered at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival with Gideon Raff as the writer and director. The film includes Chris Evans (Ari Levinson) as an Israeli Mossad agent who runs a covert operation that attempts to rescue Ethiopian-Jewish refugees from Sudan to a safe haven in Israel.
Other people who we see in the movie include Michael Kenneth Williams as Kabede Bimro, Haley Bennett as Rachel Reiter, Alessandro Nivola as Sammy Navon, and Ben Kingsley as Ethan Levin. However, we are here to bring you the real story behind Operation Moses and Operation Joshua in 1984-85, which are featured in the film. Many fans who were thrilled to see their favorite Marvel superhero in the film later on tracked the real story behind the evacuation of the refugees and the connection to the Red Sea coast.
Red Sea Diving Resort- The Story Behind The Movie
The agents in real life had converted a deserted hotel called the Arous Holiday Resort into a diving resort that attracted tourists and served as the perfect cover to hide the refugees. However, the agents had to pretend that they, too, were part of the crew which ran the hotel. It is believed that many parts of the movie are too exaggerated and not true to real life at all. However, a few things that we are sure of behind the story is how dangerous it was to help Jewish people escape from a country that was truly so cruel to them.
In the movie- the true potential and condition are very much hidden to plan eyes of what we as an audience saw. Even the political situation, which had worsened the condition of the pressure on the agents and the living conditions of the people, hasn’t been shown. The Ethiopian revolution in 1974 played a major role in triggering political tensions in the country, due to which the crisis over Jewish people played out in bad hands. Ethiopian Jews were the first ones to rebel in the revolution during this time!
The plan to set up a cover hideout, as shown in the movie in Sudan, was, in fact, true. Using the cover-up, many different operations were done discreetly, which transferred many people from Sudan to Israel. Some such Operations include Operation Brothers, Operation Moses (1984-1985), and Operation Solomon (1991). These operations made it possible for 90,000 members of the community to escape to Israel by the end of the 1990s.
For the Red Sea Diving Resort to be set up, the coral reefs and the perfect destination travel getaway were kept in mind. It was planned that the refugees would be taken to Israel primarily by boat. One of the dangerous outcomes was also the fact that the hotel staff and tourists staying were, in fact, unaware of these activities. The staff mostly included agents who were undercover and carrying out their plans as usual but to fool the authorities, and they had to take care of day-to-day activities in their role. The missions spanned over the years, and Beta Israels traveled by boats and planes.
The airlift to Israel carrying 400 refugees
The tourists provided perfect cover for the mission to carry out as the refugees were evacuated off the coast using navy ships. However, there were endgame instances where they were almost caught by Sudan soldiers due to mistaken smuggling. This led to a change in plans for the evacuation as airstrips were found to opt for airlifts. These cargo planes, too, had difficulty during that time finding the group of people since infrared lights were used to hide suspicion.
Red Sea Diving Resort: Conclusion
The movie surely is a one-time watch, but if you’re a fan of knowing the truth rather than getting excited by dramatics and thrilling suspense and wish to know about the testimonials of the people, then you should surely read Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort from Amazon. The movie is a one-time watch as well, which you can tune in on Netflix!
