Minister of Transport Miri Regev is holding a briefing about flights to rescue over 100,000 Israelis stranded overseas following the closure of Israeli airspace.
She says, “I perceive the misery, however we’re on the fourth day of a tough struggle and a heavy worth that the house entrance is paying, and we won’t take a danger and God forbid there will probably be an incident on the bottom, the place we must clarify how we allowed a airplane to land on the bottom with greater than 300 useless. Due to this fact, we’ll do it in a phased, deliberate and coordinated method with the Ministry of Protection and civil aviation professionals,” she mentioned.
“We mentioned it might take time and that it would not occur in a single day, however we now have given the okay, and actually we’re beginning with a ‘secure return’ operation by the Ministry of Transportation along with the related authorities to convey Israelis residence,” provides Regev.
Regev insisted, “We won’t permit Israelis to fly overseas at this stage. Those that are at the moment leaving for overseas are those that have come to go to the nation – diplomats, vacationers, and many others.”
She recounts, “The primary part has been carried out, and the plan was that as quickly as there was an alert at 3 am (Friday morning), we’d fly the whole fleet of planes out of Ben Gurion Airport. It was the appropriate choice – in any other case we’d have had nothing to convey Israelis again to Israel.
“Now, the second part of the ‘Secure Return’ operation is being carried out. Which means that after coordination with the IDF and danger administration, which we’ll current later, we’re getting ready to return residents residence beginning immediately. The departure is to these hotspots the place we knew there have been Israelis: Thailand, Larnaca, Athens, Italy and the US, and from there the primary returnees will come.”
Regev explains “The Protection Ministry is rescuing Israelis within the safety forces who have to be returned residence, and we do not get into that. The return of civilians residence is completed by the Ministry of Transport in cooperation with the Ministry of Protection. At this stage, the Protection Ministry’s response was comprehensible – there’s a nice burden on the IDF and the Air Drive, and subsequently IDF planes won’t return civilians, however the Israeli plane fleet and thru international firms that will probably be ready to participate. We’ll set up a devoted physique that can include representatives from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of International Affairs, the Residence Entrance Command and the Nationwide Emergency Authority, with a hotline that will probably be introduced to the general public quickly. This group will really know the best way to prioritize emergency circumstances of these residents who have to return, and for whom the airways have no idea the best way to reply, and subsequently the Nationwide Emergency Authority can be a part of the staff.”
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Regev notes, “Along with the airs, we’re working to supply an answer through the ocean. Within the maritime house, we now have exempted Mano Delivery from Residence Command orders I’m glad that the corporate contacted us. We talked at size and agreed that delivery from Mano will assist us return Israelis from Cyprus to Israel and can assist ship out those that don’t have to be right here, reminiscent of vacationers and youngsters from Birthright, whom we’ll take overseas.
Regev says, “I inform residents: There’s nothing to fret about. You might be overseas, take pleasure in your self. I do know it isn’t straightforward, and I raised the difficulty of compensation within the final cupboard. We’ll sit down with the Minister of Finance and see how we will take care of this problem. I ask folks to be affected person.
“Regardless of the challenges of the struggle, we now have saved the skies open, despite the fact that many international firms have left right here and resumed flying. Simply two weeks in the past we introduced again Wizz Air and Lufthansa. It’s a big problem to function civil aviation throughout a struggle. We’ll do all the things to convey you again to Israel, and with God’s assist we’ll convey everybody again to Israel, however it would take time.”
Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on June 16, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
