Sources: United States and Israeli records; Jewish Agency reports; Ethiopian refugee testimony after the suspension of Operation Moses.

Operation Joshua, also called Operation Sheba, followed the premature halt of Operation Moses. After the earlier airlift became public, many Beta Israel remained stranded in Sudanese camps. In March 1985, a smaller evacuation involving American logistical support transported additional refugees to Israel. The operation was narrower than Moses but historically important because it responded to an immediate humanitarian gap created when secrecy collapsed.

The people rescued through Operation Joshua had often endured the same famine, walking routes, camp conditions, and family separations as those who left in the earlier airlift. Its significance lies in continuity: Ethiopian Jewish migration was not a single dramatic rescue but a sequence of dangerous departures, partial solutions, and unresolved family reunifications. In Israel, these arrivals entered absorption centers and schools while relatives remained in Ethiopia or Sudan. The operation also deepened the involvement of American Jewish organizations and the United States government in Ethiopian Jewish rescue efforts.