The State Department will charge Americans to leave a war zone. Governor Ron DeSantis had other plans.

When Hamas attacked just over a week ago, Americans were stranded all across Israel. Senator Cory Booker and Congressman Dan Goldman were both in Israel at that moment. They managed to get out before all the civilian airlines stopped flying into Tel Aviv. But many Americans were simply stuck, unable to get to the airport before the flights stopped, and now with no way to return home.

But never fear, the State Department is here. They did come up with a plan, it was eerily reminiscent of Afghanistan – you’re paying for us to fly you out, and if you don’t, you don’t go.

The U.S. government will provide charter flights to cities in Europe, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. “We know there is a demand signal out there.”

Expected routes include Tel Aviv to Athens, Reuters reported. It is unclear how long the offer will last but it might just a few days, airline officials said.

A State Department email seen by Reuters said it plans to offer transit options beginning on Friday “but it will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart.”

“If you choose to take this departure assistance, transportation will be by air to Athens or Frankfurt, or sea from Haifa to Cyprus,” it added.

The email seen by Reuters said “Americans will be asked to sign an agreement to repay the U.S. government prior to departure and should be prepared to arrange your own lodging and onward travel from Greece, Germany or Cyprus to your final destination.”

When flights were being arranged out of Afghanistan, it was estimated that a single person’s ticket on those chartered flights would run $2000. This time, that chartered flight won’t even get you all the way back to the United States – just to another country that will allow you to buy ANOTHER ticket to get back home. By the time the State Department got off their butts to announce the chartered flights, Representative Cory Mills of Florida had already gone to Israel to pick up 32 stranded people.

Well, Governor DeSantis wasn’t going to sit around and wait. He signed an executive order on Thursday to get chartered flights from Florida to Israel, to bring stranded Floridians back home.

Wow! Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, issued an executive order to send airplanes to Israel to rescue the 20,000 Americans who are now stranded amid a war. About 1,000 of them are from Florida, his admin says.

I asked his team if Florida will charge Americans for the… pic.twitter.com/Dgdu88tnvu

— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) October 12, 2023

The complete text reads:

Wow! Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, issued an executive order to send airplanes to Israel to rescue the 20,000 Americans who are now stranded amid a war. About 1,000 of them are from Florida, his admin says.

I asked his team if Florida will charge Americans for the flights like the Feds will, and they said NO!

Despite the whining by Adam Kinzinger (seriously, who still listens to this dummy?), DeSantis got the ball rolling, and the first flight from Israel to Tampa arrived on Sunday night. And the governor was waiting.

We are getting ready to welcome hundreds of people who were stuck in Israel back to the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/4gYyDI09DK

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 16, 2023

Remember, it isn’t as simple as just flying in and picking people up. If it was, the commercial flights would still be coming in and out of Israel. It is extremely dangerous to fly into an airport when a rocket attack could happen any minute. Fortunately, DeSantis found a group willing to help. His office put out this press release, thanking Project Dynamo for working with them to bring Floridians home.

Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the first mission has arrived from Israel with evacuees who were unable to return home due to commercial flight cancellations. Florida partnered with Project Dynamo to bring nearly 300 evacuees home from Israel, including more than 270 to Tampa and seven to Orlando this afternoon. Once the plane landed in Tampa, evacuees were able to access resources from multiple state agencies. Additionally, the Governor is sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and children’s toys to Israel to help impacted Israelis.

“Just a few days ago, I signed an Executive Order to allow Florida to carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to bring Floridians back home and provide important supplies to our valued ally, Israel,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I am proud of how quickly we have been able to activate resources and do what the federal government could not – get Floridians and other Americans back home, reunited with their families, free of charge.”

The video of people – whole families, struggling with carseats and strollers – coming off the flight, will lighten your heart and bring a tear to your eye. And there was Ron and Casey DeSantis, shaking hands and welcoming people home.

Bryan Stern, CEO and founder of Project DYNAMO, the search and rescue non-profit organization that facilitated the flight, told reporters that 270 people were on board the plane. The rescuees included 91 children and four dogs, Stern said. Many people on the plane cried when it touched down in Tampa, he added.

Just try and process this for a moment. An elected official, the governor of a state, decided that he wasn’t going to wait around for the federal government to charge an arm and a leg to drop American citizens off in Europe to find a flight home. He decided to get it done himself. AND HE DID.

Huh. This guy actually got something huge done for the people he serves. How strange. https://t.co/s9EqtwPJSg

— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) October 15, 2023

And as others have pointed out, there’s a rather famous man who lives in Florida, and is also running for president, who owns a plane. That plane isn’t picking up Americans in Israel at the moment.

Per the press release, the Florida Division of Emergency Management is looking to arrange more flights, sending supplies while picking up Floridians for their flight home, as well as asking people stuck in Athens, Greece, to contact them if they need assistance. Let us pray that any additional flights prove to be as successful as this first one.

And a full round of applause for Ron DeSantis, for following through on what he said he would do. Thank you, Governor.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click