Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida successfully chartered two flights and sailed one cruise ship mission to rescue Americans from the escalating crisis in Israel.
“This was probably the most challenging and logistically difficult mission that the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) has done, certainly in my time,” DeSantis said as he described students, Israel Birthright participants and others stuck in “no man’s land” when the Ben Gurion International Airport shut down.
State officials said they flew in more than 300 people, and rescued more than 1,110 people on a passenger ferry.
DeSantis spoke at a press conference that began at 5:30 a.m. Friday at the Tampa International Airport as some passengers returned stateside.
DeSantis did not say how much the state spent in taxpayer dollars on the operations. His office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to a Florida Politics question on the price tag.
FDEM worked with the Florida Department of Transportation, as well as private partners and contract vendors, FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said.
“Central to that is obviously Grey Bull Rescue that we have partnered with,” added Guthrie, who declined to talk about logistics of the rescue operations. “This operation will continue 24/7 with the safety and well-being of Americans and Floridians as our top priority.”
The U.S. Department of State upgraded its travel warning Monday to the highest level, telling Americans not to go to Israel because of the Israel-Iran attacks.
DeSantis did not provide specific figures for how many Floridans were rescued in the operations.
“We’re not going to turn somebody away as a fellow American,” DeSantis said. “I bet you, everyone on this plane who is not a Florida resident spends time in Florida. I can guarantee you that.”
He said the state of Florida is proud that it doesn’t “shy away from it and pass the buck. We step up, and we lead, and we get the job done.”
“The reality is there’s going to be more folks that are going to be rescued. This is an ongoing effort,” DeSantis said, adding he believes other states might want to “get in the game at this point.”
Josh Hammer, a Newsweek editor who once penned a 2023 opinion column supporting DeSantis over Donald Trump and got DeSantis to write an endorsement of his book on Israel, was one of the people rescued and spoke at Friday’s press conference.
Hammer, a Broward County resident, flew to Israel with his family, including his infant, to go to a family wedding about a week and a half ago, he said.
“It kind of all went down the drain,” Hammer said. “You’re essentially living on pins and needles for the sirens to go off, and then you have 90 seconds to two minutes to basically take, in our case, our six-month-old baby, just run to the bomb shelter. … We’re dealing here with Iranian ballistic missiles. These are no joke.”
Hammer said he was connected with help after he saw Sen. Jay Collins write about the rescue operations on social media and they began communicating.
Hammer said he is grateful for DeSantis, “the great friend to the Jewish people in the Jewish state of Israel.”
Florida previously conducted rescue missions to Israel in 2023.
“It’s absolutely incredible that the state of Florida leads time, time and time again on these operations there. I have no idea why other states don’t seem to kind of jump all in as well,” Hammer said. “So God bless this amazing state.”
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