A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the latest state mission to bring people back from Israel was a “job well done,” with more than 2,000 Floridians and other Americans brought to the Sunshine State.
Florida stepped in after tensions with Iran stopped commercial travel out of the country. While he acknowledged the current “ceasefire” between Israel and Iran, and hopes it “sticks,” DeSantis noted that for close to two weeks during the “hot conflict” that Ben Gurion Airport was closed.
“It’s not the easiest part of the world to navigate around. If you leave Israel’s borders, you’re not necessarily, you know, just walking down Main Street. It can be tough. And this was a lot of challenges logistically for the state of Florida,” DeSantis said, adding that it was the “most difficult” in the state’s history of such efforts with a “lot of roadblocks in the way.”
Thanking Sen. Jay Collins and the Division of Emergency Management, DeSantis noted that without Florida’s help, those trapped in Israel wouldn’t have known what to do.
“When we met with some of the folks last week coming into Tampa Airport, they didn’t know necessarily where to turn, and I think the state of Florida showed we’ve got your back. We’ll make it happen. And so we did,” DeSantis said, adding that for those parents with children, the uncertainty “takes on a whole different dimension.”
While the state is no longer “conducting any operations,” DeSantis said Florida is ready just in case.
“Who knows what happens in the future? Although I do think now people recognize that, hey, there could be some complications. I think that’s probably something that may be on people’s minds going forward.”
DeSantis made the comments Wednesday at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa.
Questions remain, including how much the rescue missions cost.
This wasn’t the first rescue mission from Israel. In 2023, the state also brought people home from the country.
