The first wave of Yemenite Jews arrived in Israel in 1881. By 1919, the Yemenite population in Palestine had increased to 4,234. Over the span of 1917 to 1948, a total of 15,340 Yemenite Jews immigrated to Palestine.

In 1949, the Jewish Agency dispatched Rabbi Yaakov Shraiborn to Yemen to engage with the community. He was taken aback to discover that almost the entire community had an interest in migrating to Israel. At a time when Israel was already grappling with an influx of Holocaust refugees, Ben Gurion hesitated to immediately bring the Yemenite community to Israel, but eventually acquiesced.

Operation Magic Carpet airlifted a total of 48,818 Yemenite Jews to Israel on 430 flights. Not only did it transport the vast majority of the Yemenite community, but it also airlifted the small Jewish communities from Aden, Djibouti in French Somaliland, and Asmara in Eritrea.

The assimilation of these immigrants proved challenging. There continues to be debate regarding the fate of some immigrant infants who were reported to have died during this period.