Thousands of Israelis still stranded abroad, and some are now back home

Thousands of Israeli citizens remain stranded abroad and could not return to Israel, either because they did not receive government approval, or because they could not book a flight. Others eventually return home after spending significant sums of money to get here. It also took more than ten days before some applicants wanted to re-enter the country, receiving permission to do so. Some had to re-apply for permission to return, and incoming flights remained scarce. The issue of the exception committee tasked with re-entering, approving or refusing requests to re-enter the country. It has moved four times between three different ministries. It started at the Ministry of Transport under Miri Regev, then moved to the Ministry of Energy under Yuval Steinitz, then to the Ministry of Regional Cooperation under Ofir Akunis, and after that it returned to the Ministry of Transport. Israir operates one daily flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. There are now three flights from New York to Tel Aviv, the Department of Transportation said. There were also ad hoc flights to and from Dubai and London. Despite these flights, those who were helping citizens abroad were caught, including former MK Rabbi Dov Lipman and current Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, saying they still had numerous requests to handle help to return. The government recently announced a new system that would increase the number of people allowed into the country daily from 600 to 2,000. Talks are underway on when it will be implemented, a government spokesman said.

Despite the strict restrictions on the number of citizens who want to return to their homes, more than 500 international participants in a judo tournament hosted in Tel Aviv are entering the country this week to take part. to go home, including a father who had to bring it back from the US for his daughter’s batmitswa and a young family of returning citizens from the UK. Alana Ruben left Israel in October to be with her parents in Canada after her father. She stayed in Canada to help her parents during the initial rehabilitation period and would fly home on January 31st. But her plans were heightened when the government closed Ben-Gurion Airport on January 25. Ruben immediately booked an Air Canada. flight on January 24 when she heard the airport was about to close. But she could not succeed because it took too long to get her COVID-19 test back, which cost her $ 180 Canadian, or about 460 NIS. Air Canada told her they would fly to Israel on January 31, so Ruben took another COVID-19 test and paid the same fee. But the flight was canceled 24 hours before his departure, and since then she has been in limbo, unsure of when she will return home. On Tuesday, Ruben managed to book a flight from Canada to Frankfurt this coming Sunday. She booked a flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv, departing Monday night. Since Reuben is keeping the Sabbath, she will probably have to take two new COVID-19 tests, as the test she will take in Toronto on Friday before Shabbat is unlikely to be valid. for travel purposes against the departure of the flight from Frankfurt. Ruben also had to pay $ 250, about NIS 800, for the flight from Frankfurt, as her original Air Canada flight was direct to Israel. “I support Israel and the government, but this process was Kafkaesque and inhuman,” she said. “This experience has eroded my confidence in the government.” As someone who lives alone and requires her to spend a minimum of ten days in one room in a coronavirus hotel after returning, even after two negative COVID-19 tests, it is unnecessary and Ruben said: Yaakov Mikhli, an immigrant from the US who was traveling with his wife and five children two years ago, was stuck in New York after traveling to the US for work in early January. He was supposed to return. on January 28, but was stranded after the government decided to halt all commercial flights. This past weekend was his daughter’s batmitswa, and it looked like he would miss it. Eventually, he was given a permit to enter the country and found a flight to make it home in time. He had to spend $ 600 on a single trip to Tel Aviv after his original flight was canceled and $ 150 on a COVID-19. test despite being vaccinated. He took the test because he was worried that protocols from the Ministry of Transport would prohibit him from boarding his flight without having the negative test results, regardless of whether he was vaccinated.