Israeli army reservists stranded abroad scramble to find flights back to join their units
WhatsApp groups of Israelis overseas are looking for ways, and money, to get a spot on the few flights still entering the country to respond to their emergency call-ups amid the Gaza war
El Al Airlines plane is seen at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2022. (Photo credit: Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images)
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Thousands of frantic Israelis called up for emergency military reserve duty while traveling abroad have been scrambling to find available seats on flights back to Tel Aviv.
With many international airlines cancelling their flights to Israel because of the security situation, Israel’s national airline, El Al, was in most cases their only option for getting back home.
El Al has not yet responded, however, to the unusual spike in demand by putting on extra flights.
Many of these reservists have therefore been mobilizing through WhatsApp groups to organize special charter flights to allow them join units that have been called up to fight in and around Gaza and provide reinforcements in other areas.
Others were hoping to find connections with El Al employees who might help them book seats on flights leaving within the next few hours.
Priority on El Al flights has been given to would-be passengers with the documentation known as a tzav shmoneh (literally meaning an Order 8), the term used for emergency call-up notices for reservists during wartime and special military operations.
By the beginning of this week, a WhatsApp created for reservists stranded in New York already numbered nearly 400 members. One young man begged members of the group to help him find a seat on a flight because his unit was already stationed on the Gaza border and he was desperate to join them.
Others exchanged tips on how to locate empty seats on flights that appeared to be full and what connections to avoid.
Members were discouraged from purchasing tickets on any airlines besides El Al, given the high probability of having their flights cancelled or ending up stranded in Europe.
The group also included Israeli expats stationed in the New York area for extended periods who wanted to volunteer for reserve duty despite not having been officially summoned for an emergency call-up.
Several group members complained that El Al was taking advantage of a captive audience by hiking up prices, with one noting that the cheapest one-way ticket he could find was $2,000.
The group administrator, a flight stewardess, notified members that she had been reaching out to possible donors who might be able to subsidize and pay for tickets and even charter a special flight back to Israel. She said she had received encouraging responses.
The New York WhatsApp group was one of many serving the Israeli reservists stationed abroad eager to fly back home immediately. Other WhatsApp groups have been organized for reservists stranded in France, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, Austria, Turkey, England and the Balkans.
An unusually large number of Israelis are vacationing abroad at this time of year, which coincides with the Jewish holidays and the summer break from Israeli universities.
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