Thousands of Israelis are still stranded abroad, some now returning home

Thousands of Israeli citizens remain imprisoned abroad and were unable to return to Israel, either because they did not receive government approval or because they were unable to book a flight. Others are finally coming home after spending significant sums of money to get here. It also took more than 10 days for some candidates seeking to enter the country to receive permission to do so. Some have had to reapply repeatedly to be allowed to return, and incoming flights remain scarce. To complicate matters, the exceptions committee has the task of approving or denying requests for re-entry into the country. He moved four times between three different ministries. It all started at the Ministry of Transport in Miri Regev, then moved to the Ministry of Energy of Yuval Steinitz, then to the Ministry of Regional Cooperation of Ofir Akunis and then returned to the Ministry of Transport. There is a daily flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv operated by Israir. There are now three flights from New York to Tel Aviv, said the Ministry of Transport. There were also some ad hoc flights to and from Dubai and London. Despite these flights, those working to assist citizens remained abroad, including ex-MK Rabbi Dov Lipman and current Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh said they were still dealing with numerous requests for help to return. The government recently announced a new system that increases the number of people allowed in the country daily from 600 to 2,000. Discussions are underway about when it will be implemented, said a government spokesman.

Despite strong restrictions on the number of citizens looking to return home, more than 500 international competitors in a judo tournament being held in Tel Aviv are entering the country this week to participate. At the same time, some of those who stayed abroad were able to return home, including a father who needed to return from the United States for his daughter’s bat mitzvah and a young family of citizens returning from the United Kingdom. Alana Ruben left Israel in October to stay with her parents in Canada after her father suffered a stroke. She stayed in Canada to help her parents during the initial rehabilitation period and was scheduled to fly home on January 31. But his plans were interrupted when the government closed Ben-Gurion airport on 25 January. Ruben immediately booked an Air Canada flight on January 24, when he learned that the airport was about to close. But she couldn’t get in because it took so long to get her COVID-19 test back, which cost Canadian $ 180, or about NIS 460. Air Canada told her she would have a flight to Israel on January 31, so Ruben did another COVID-19 test and paid the same fee. But the flight was canceled 24 hours before the scheduled departure. She has been in limbo ever since, not knowing when she can go home. On Tuesday, Ruben managed to book a flight from Canada to Frankfurt next Sunday. She booked a flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv, which leaves on Monday night. As Ruben observes Shabbat, she will likely need to do two new COVID-19 tests, as the test she will do in Toronto on the Friday before Shabbat is unlikely to be valid for travel purposes when the Frankfurt flight is due to depart . Ruben also had to pay $ 250, about NIS 800, for the Frankfurt flight, since his original Air Canada flight was direct to Israel. “I support Israel and the government a lot, but this process was Kafkaesque and inhuman,” she said. “This experience has shaken my confidence in the government.” As someone who lives alone, requiring her to spend a minimum of 10 days in a room at a coronavirus hotel after returning, even after two negative COVID-19 tests, would be unnecessary and difficult, Ruben said. Yaakov Mikhli, an immigrant from the United States who made aliyah with his wife and five children two years ago, was imprisoned in New York after he traveled to the US for work in early January. He was due to return on January 28, but was arrested after the government’s decision to stop all commercial flights. Last weekend it was his daughter’s bat mitzvah, and it looked like he was going to miss it. Eventually, he received authorization to enter the country and found a flight to get home in time. He had to spend $ 600 on a one-way flight to Tel Aviv after his original flight was canceled and $ 150 on a test COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. He took the test because he was concerned that the Ministry of Transport protocols would prohibit him from boarding his flight without the negative test results, regardless of whether he was vaccinated.