There are flights from New York, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Bangkok, and Athens.
Israel’s diaspora, which includes reservists and volunteers, is returning home despite the cancellation of services by several airlines.
Israel Bachar is the Consul General for Israel in the Pacific Southwest. He says that more than 10,000 people from the US have traveled on charter and commercial flights. Some are among the 360,000 reservists that Israel’s army has called up around the world, while others are voluntary.
Some have already been deployed and are dying. Last week, a 22-year-old Israeli-American reserve was killed by a missile strike on the Lebanese frontier where Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran, is increasing its threat. Even as the war intensifies, and global opinion is further divided, reservists continue to arrive.
Israel announced that the “next stage” of the conflict would likely be a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has been designated as such by the US, EU and other countries. The US, EU, and other countries have designated the militant group that has ruled Gaza for seven years as a terrorist organisation.
Hamas officials confirmed on Sunday that 4,500 Palestinians had been killed in the conflict since it began, causing protests throughout the Middle East, Europe, and the US. The world leaders are trying to stop the conflict in Gaza by pressing Israel to let more aid into Gaza. Gaza is home to 2 million people.
All of this does not seem to deter reservists despite the polarized politics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governments. According to Bachar’s office, so far the global response has been more than half of what was expected.
Stas Grindberg, who is currently in northern Israel, was in Miami on a trip for business when he learned that Hamas militants were in Israel. Even before the horrific extent of the attack became clear, Stas Grinberg briefly returned to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit his wife and kids five hours later. He then flew to Tel Aviv.
Grinberg, 35 years old, grew up in Haifa and served with the Israel Defense Forces between the ages 19 and 25. He returns to his unit about 20 days a year as a reserve. He said that the shock of the attack on Oct. 7 made him return home a simple decision. His wife and he were up front with their children, but only to a certain extent.
Grinberg told Grinberg by phone, from his first stop, a base of training near Gaza Strip, that he had told the children, “There’s a war and daddy has to be there. But he will do the old-man stuff.” It’s only a partial truth. I’m in the front lines to fight this battle.
Grinberg was sent out to clear Kfar Aza – a village in which dozens of people were killed – before heading north. In order to prepare, he is drawing on his previous experience guarding the Gaza Border in 2013.
He said, “I feel prepared and experienced.” But “nobody ever thought of or practiced scenarios such as the one that occurred” on October 7. “I’m giving a level of humility and caution to the fact that we are experienced, but the enemy is changing.”
The majority of Israelis are required to serve in the military when they reach age 18. Most IDF personnel are eligible to be called up for reserve duty until they reach the age of 40 or even older if there is a national emergency. It is not expected that those who leave the country for training or reserve duty will return, but it may depend on their unit.
Veterans interviewed stated that the brutality and violence of the attacks brought back memories of the Holocaust. This prompted a swift call to action.
Adam, who requested to remain anonymous because of his role in a counter-terrorism undercover unit as a reserve, woke up in Madrid, Spain, on October 7 to an avalanche of WhatsApp messages and a summons to return to battle from his former team. The 23-year old, who was born in Paris and joined the IDF before studying in Spain and most recently in Istanbul, had to fly from Athens and Istanbul to Tel Aviv to rejoin his unit 30 hours after he woke up.
He said over the phone, “For me, it was never a question of whether I would return or not.” His grandmother survived Auschwitz in World War II. “I will remain here until the very end.”
Shlomo Ameslem, a New Yorker, was not called back and flew on his own to Tel Aviv to rejoin his original paratrooper team. Initially, they told him that there was not enough equipment to cover him. The 26-year old investment associate who grew on Long Island, and joined the IDF following college, said he had convince his former team to let him in.
He said, “So many people are volunteering who were not even asked to serve.” It just complicates everything.
Some veterans want to return, but are worried about what it will mean for their families and their jobs. Jonah Bookman (39), an operating partner of the investment firm EQT Group in New York, was a sniper for many years with the IDF.
He said, “It is a bit hard to sit here in this big fancy office building.” You feel helpless. “You feel helpless.”
Some people have traveled to stay close to their family.
Doron Hazan is a 30-year-old who served in the IDF nine years ago. He now lives in New York. His younger cousin, who was at the Supernova rave where Hamas murdered 260 festival goers, is missing. Hazan, a MIT graduate and artificial intelligence specialist, was not called by his former unit. He found a seat in a packed El Al plane from New York to Tel Aviv, so that he could visit his family.
The flight was different. It was a different vibe. When you fly El Al, you usually see a lot Orthodox Jews. This time, the flight was mainly young people. Hazan stated that “I believe most of them came back to serve”. The atmosphere was tense. He learned soon after that his cousin had died.
Elia, now 26 years old and based in London but originally from Paris, was visiting Tel Aviv at the time of the attacks. He chose to stay in Tel Aviv instead of returning home to London to attend the Frieze Art fair.
Elia served his last in the IDF about five years ago. His military service was incident-free, unlike some veterans who are now being retrained on Israel’s strengthened frontlines.
Elia calls his family every day as Israel prepares to go into an extended conflict. “I’m certainly not the strongest fighter, but I will do all I can.”