helping to organize the near-impossible logistical feat of the Solomon
Operation, at great risk to his own life as well as the lives of those
around him. Aweke was married to an Ethiopian Christian and was the
adoptive father of her three daughters; he worked in the capital as a ho-
tel manager while quietly making connections with Jewish communi-
ties throughout this vast and hostile land. Twice he had been arrested
by the authorities, and he had spent a total of two years in prison on
suspicion of collaborating with the Israeli government. Aweke, weary
from the task yet thrilled to have come “home” to Israel for the first
time himself in the operation, received a hero’s welcome for his life’s
accomplishments. He arrived with his daughters Tadeletch, Tegest, and
Mimi, but left his wife behind to close their family business with the
promise that he would return to bring her out. He could not. A few
months after his arrival in Israel, he died of injuries sustained earlier
under the relentless tortures he had experienced in Ethiopian prisons.SOUTH THEATER/ZIRA DROMIT(ZIDAR).The desk in Mili-
tary Intelligenceresponsible for Egypt and southern Jordan. See
alsoBRANCH 2; BRANCH 6.SOWAN, ISMAIL (1959– ).A Palestinian Arab, born in East Jerusalem
when that part of the city was under Jordanian rule, Sowan was ar-
rested by British police in their investigation of the assassination of
Ali al-Adhami, a Palestinian living in London in 1987.
In 1978 Sowan had gone to Beirut to study civil engineering.
Like other young Palestinians, Sowan joined a Palestinian organi-
zation in Lebanon, took military training courses, and learned to
use the Kalashnikov and other kinds of rifles. He hoped in that way
to earn money for his studies. On a visit to his family in Jerusalem,
he told of joining the Palestinian organization to his brother, who
warned him that he might get into serious trouble if the Israelis dis-
covered this. His brother suggested that he preempt any problem by
offering his services to the Israelis.
At the Bethlehem police station, Sowan contacted the Israeli Se-
curity Agency(ISA), which showed interest in retaining his services.
The code names of his case officers were Captain Elias and Major
Yunis. He met them again in a safe house near Mount Herzl in West
Jerusalem and told them about his life in Beirut. Sowan came to be270 • SOUTH THEATER/ZIRA DROMIT06-102 (04) Q-Z.qxd 3/24/06 7:26 AM Page 270