Elected officials are calling on the State Department to do more to get New Yorkers stuck in Israel back to the United States.
“I’ve written a letter already yesterday to the State Department asking for aircraft to do emergency evacuations, like we’ve done and other natural disasters or times of war. And so we are urging the State Department to provide that aircraft now,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said.
What You Need To Know
- With commercial flights out of Israel difficult to find, elected officials say it is time for the State Department to step in
- Officials representing New York City have called on the State Department to consider chartering flights or using military planes to evacuate U.S. citizens
- Many New Yorkers who were in Israel to visit family, celebrate holidays or to study are struggling to return
While Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport remains open, the State Department’s guidance for U.S. citizens warns that many flights have been canceled, with U.S. carriers temporarily suspending flights in and out of Israel.
“The commercial flights would normally be dropping people in Israel and then taking people away, but no one’s landing. And so if you have a commercial flight in and out of Israel, it’s likely not going to be there. So the only option for a lot of families is to take a regional flight, but the regional flights can often be very expensive,” Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand is not alone. Representatives Grace Meng and Nicole Malliotakis wrote a bipartisan letter to the State Department calling for charter flights and military aircraft to be considered as options to evacuate U.S. citizens.
On “Mornings On 1,” Meng said her office has been hearing from constituents with family in Israel — people visiting for holidays, students taking gap years and more.
“Now, they need to come home. They need to go back to school, they need to go back to work. Some people need medication. So time really is of the essence,” Meng said.
So far, the State Department’s guidance for Americans in Israel is brief — warning that the situation is dynamic and that people should check with airlines about flight availability.
Gillibrand said New Yorkers who need help from the government can e-mail casework@gillibrand.senate.gov.
“We can call the State Department on their behalf. We can find out what are the methods for evacuation, we can find out what are safe places to stay, on how to get access to the embassy and how to get an appointment,” she said.