1,500 Jewish Americans evacuated from Israel as DeSantis sponsors rescue flights to Tampa
As violence escalates in Israel during its conflict with Iran, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is dispatching four planes to evacuate 1,500 stranded Americans.
Mano Maritime cruise ship Crown Iris picked up the evacuees in Ashdod, Israel, and took them on a 13-hour steam trip to Lanarca, Cyprus. Most passengers were from a program called Birthright Israel, which provides educational trips to the Holy Land for young Americans of Jewish descent or creed.
Israeli airspace has been closed since the bombings from Iran began.
After the ship arrived in Lanarca under the protection of the Israeli navy, according to the Times of Israel, Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark said it was a "complex and emotional operation, carried out under immense pressure, and we are proud to have brought 1,500 young adults safely to Cyprus."
From Cyprus, DeSantis and the Florida Department of Emergency Management volunteered four wide-body planes to take the Jewish Americans home.
Additionally, a Tampa lawmaker and retired Green Beret told the Floridian Press he left Hillsborough County for Israel earlier in the week as part of an effort to help get thousands more Americans home.
State Sen. Jay Collins, a Republican considered a potential pick for the lieutenant governorship in 2026, said Sunday he and the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation were looking to help evacuation efforts, according to the outlet.
In 2023, DeSantis also dispatched planes to Israel to evacuate Americans after Hamas massacred Jews on Oct. 7 of that year.
The governor told Fox News at the time he felt the need to "fill the void" left by the Biden administration in their own response to the terror attack.
"It was sad because the State Department and the embassy over in Israel were not helpful to these people. If you think about it, illegal aliens come across our southern border and the federal government will fly them all over the country for free," he said at the time, referring to Biden's "ghost flights" that sent migrants to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; White Plains, New York, and other smaller airports.
In that operation, at least 300 people were evacuated from Tel Aviv and met by the governor and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis at Tampa International Airport in Florida's third-largest city.
Florida has the third-highest Jewish population, behind New York and California, according to reports – with an estimated 650,000, particularly in Miami Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.
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