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Shlomo Hillel, a Baghdad-born Israeli operative who in the late 1940s and early 50s used bribes, fake visas and a network of smugglers to move more than 120,000 Jews from Iraq to Israel, died February 8 at his home in Ra anana, Israel. He was 97. His death was confirmed by his son, Ari, who did not specify a cause. Hillel was just 23 when the Haganah, a paramilitary organisation in what was then British-controlled Palestine, sent him undercover to Iraq. Jews had lived there for centuries, mostly in harmony with their neighbours, but growing Arab nationalism and anti-Zionist sentiment, including a 1941 pogrom in which several hundred Jews were killed, were making their situation precarious.

Maagan michaelH efaNew yorkUnited statesFrance generalUnited kingdomHa afonHebrew universityEnatmar salamTawfiq al suwaidiShlomo hillelTemima rosnerHanini hillelAlexander glasbergMenachem savidorRichard armstrong