Summary

Chapter One 

Stretch Thompson is an Alaskan pilot who sells his airline to Israel in 1948. Foster J. MacWilliams is one of Stretch’s pilots who thrives on risky assignments. Foster plans to leave for Paris soon but Stretch convinces him to stay on for one flight from Yemen to Israel.  

Three thousand years ago, the Queen of Sheba ruled over a large group of Jewish people on the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, and they prospered. When the Islamic religion swept into the area, the Jewish people still enjoyed freedoms given to them by the laws of Mohammed. But eventually, the Jewish people started suffering persecution. The Jewish people have been isolated for millennia in what is now called Yemen, and they keep their faith alive. They have waited patiently to be called to Palestine. When Israel declares independence, and these Yemenites take it as a sign that Israel has been reborn and they should return.  

The Yemenites begin their long journey on foot towards Israel. They pour over the border of the Western Protectorate during the war. The British allow them in and let them build camps in Aden as long as the Israelis retrieve them. The Yemenites are starving and exhausted, and their possessions have been stolen on their journey, but they still have their Bibles. The members of the Palmach who arrive to transport the Yemenites to Israel have to help them catch up with the last three thousand years of technological progress in a matter of hours.  

Foster unwittingly fulfills a biblical prophecy when he delivers the Yemenites by plane to Israel, or on the wings of an eagle. The flight to Israel is full of trials and misunderstandings, but along the way Foster gets to know Hanna, a member of the Palmach, who is helping escort the Yemenites. He cannot believe she does not get paid for her work. Hanna says she can’t explain it, but she needs to get the Yemenites into Israel. When the plane arrives in Israel, Foster is overcome by the Yemenites’ joy. Foster stays with the airline and marries Hanna. Jewish people come to Israel from seventy-four different countries as part of Operation Magic Carpet over the next few years.   

Chapter Two 

The immigration flooding Israel advances technology and industry, and the arts flourish. While it is prospering, every advance has come as a result of hard work. The Israelis prove what can be done with will power and love. They even find life in the brutal Negev Desert. Ari goes there and learns every inch of the land. He uses the desert as a training ground for an elite group who comes to be known as the “Beasts of the Negev.”  

Kitty becomes a friend to the Israelis, a title not often bestowed. She works for the Zion Settlement Society with immigrants. She travels to meet the Aliyahs at their point of departure to help them organize. The Army of Israel becomes a powerful tool for assimilation, teaching young Israelis to read and write Hebrew. When Kitty realizes that the necessary infrastructure for immigrants is complete, she no longer sees a need for her to continue living in Israel and decides to leave to go back to America.  

Analysis 

Uris details the history of the Yemenites as yet another example of the oppression of Jewish people, painting the Arab people as enemies of the Jewish even in ancient times. The Jewish people enjoyed a golden age when they lived in Sheba, but Arabs eventually begin to oppress them and the age-old pattern asserts itself for Jewish people of the diaspora. In 1948, they have been living in what is modern day Yemen in isolation and antiquity for centuries. They have abided by hostile laws and have never become aggressive. The Yemenites remain compliant and go to great lengths to keep their religion alive, even though it would have been easier for them to convert to Islam. This motivation to stay close to their faith under difficult circumstances reflects the determination and discipline of the Jewish people in general. Once again, keeping their faith and traditions alive maintains their culture and identities as Jews. In the case of the Yemenites, it seems a herculean feat. The promise of returning to Palestine sustains them. When the opportunity finally comes, three thousand years after original exile, the Yemenites jump at the chance. Setting out for Israel from the remotest corner of Yemen on foot is an act of pure faith for these Jewish people. They have no reason to believe they can make it, or even a clear plan for how to make it, but their faith propels them forward. Their faith ultimately gives them the courage to endure being raided, to wait in detainment camps, and to board a flying machine none of them have ever heard of before. Nothing can keep Jewish people, no matter where they are, from returning to their homeland. 

With Foster, Uris creates another unlikely and reluctant American friend of Israel. Agreeing to make the run from Yemen to Israel just for the risk factor, Foster is soon drawn in by the story of Israel. The process of transporting the new immigrants brings much-needed comedy to the novel after the tension of the War of Liberation. This is a change that would not have been as light-hearted had it not involved a new character. Foster has not experienced the pain and loss of the war. He does not even initially know where Israel is located, so he easily changes the mood of the novel. Foster’s conversation with the young and beautiful Hanna on the way to Israel is enough to pique his interest in these mysterious people. Foster is a laid-back American who enjoys risk-taking for fun. He has nothing in common with the Israelis, so when he witnesses the Yemenites reaction to being on Israeli soil, he is awestruck. For the American Foster, the feeling of arriving home to a place you have never been before is a completely foreign idea. Unlike Kitty, who needs years to understand that she cannot leave Israel, Foster feels immediately drawn to the new country.    

Continuing their pattern, both Ari and Kitty have thrown themselves into their work after the War of Liberation as a way to escape their grief. Ari is possibly even more hardened than he was in the past, living and working to train an elite group of soldiers in difficult desert conditions. Once again, he toils as a pioneer in Elath as he did as a teenager in Ha Mishmar with Dafna. Kitty is again making the most of her efficiency and compassion as she helps new immigrants coming to Israel. Kitty has watched the Israelis claim their stake in the world at a high cost. Now, she helps groups of hopeful new Israelis make their way in their new home. She finally understands why Israel is so important for the Jewish people, but she still does not feel that there is a place for her there. In spite of her success and the fact that the Israelis love her, she still does not consider Israel her home.