Jewish organizations work to bring back stranded Americans in Israel amid war

A massive rescue operation is underway in Israel as organizations in Florida work to bring Jewish Americans back to the United States As Israel and Iran continue exchanging airstrikes and President Donald Trump ponders whether to expand America s involvement the Jewish Federation of Broward County is finding solutions to connect stranded Floridians with support for a safe return Everyone s scared This is unlike anything Israel s dealt with before commented Audra Berg President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Broward County We have about people from Broward specifically maybe about from South Florida that we ve been tracking I am sure that there s more than that Another group Grey Bull Rescue a nonprofit rescue organization based in Tampa shared photos of Floridians that were rescued from Israel and are en direction to Tampa Birthright Israel also publicized participants of their undertaking have been rescued and are also on their way to Tampa International Airport The Governor s Office was able to charter flights to get a few of the birthright students home explained Berg But organizations are not the only ones making evacuation plans for their members The United States State Department released they are making plans to evacuate citizens from Israel by flights and cruises In a message posted to the social media platform X U S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee disclosed Americans interested in fleeing should enroll in the Smart Traveler Activity While plenty of Americans are looking to leave the war-torn country a few like Steven Katz a physician from Delray Beach are staying put We ve spent the last three four nights spending the bulk of our nights in bomb shelters going up and down to the bomb shelters with the air raid sirens explained Katz He s been in Israel for three weeks on a mission trip with his family He reported that despite the ongoing war his presence in the country couldn t be more valuable than it is right now I do not believe that Jews are safe in Delray Beach or anywhere else in the world unless the State of Israel is strong announced Katz and I am part of that people I am part of this conversation and I couldn t be more proud to be here with my family The Jewish Federation of Broward County has created a WhatsApp group to connect people with support on cruises and flights out of Israel To be added to the group chat click here