British nationals left stranded in Israel have warned inaction could ‘cost lives’ as the UK Government said it would charter rescue flights only after Tel Aviv airspace reopens.
Those trapped in Israel have accused ministers of ‘making an active choice to leave Brits in harm’s way’ while the US charters ‘rescue’ cruise ships and European diplomats evacuate their citizens on buses at the Israeli border.
Last night, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK planned to provide ‘charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens.’
But scores of Brits have accused the Government of ‘neglecting’ its citizens and said that repatriation flights when airspace reopens will already be ‘too late’.
Amongst those evacuating is Ethan, 20, a psychology student at Reichmann International University.
He left Israel yesterday and is making his way back to Britain via Jordan and Saudi Arabia – a multi-day trek.
He said: ‘At the border all the other nationalities – French, Polish, Germans and so on -had a representative from the local embassy or diplomat helping them.
‘But it seemed like we were the only ones who didn’t have a representative from the embassy or from the Government helping us.
‘We had to do the entire journey by ourselves and none of us speak Arabic or Hebrew so it was incredibly stressful.
‘I feel disappointed and neglected because we had to literally fend for ourselves and thank God it all went smoothly because we didn’t have anyone to help us if it hadn’t.’
Zak Wagman , a 26-year-old councillor, has been left stranded in Israel after travee;omg to Herzliya on the central coast of the country with his family for a wedding.
He said: ‘I would very happily cross the Israel-Jordan border if there were UK Border staff there to help.
‘But my grandfather is in his late 80s and it is not feasible or safe for us to make this journey without support.
‘When so many other countries are rescuing their citizens – it is clear they are making an active choice to leave Brits in harm’s way.
‘And I just pray to God that it doesn’t end up costing people their lives.
‘By only promising to offer charter flights for when regular commercial flights will have already resumed, Lammy is choosing to take the mickey out of stranded British nationals.
‘It will be too little too late, there are many vulnerable Brits who need support now
Airspace over Israel and Iran was closed after the Israeli air force launched a series of targeted strikes against military facilities in Iran and the Islamic regime retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missile attacks.
Families of diplomats have been evacuated but British nationals in Israel claim they have received little to no support.
In one instance the FCDO accidently sent stranded Brits an email about an ‘imaginary’ charter flight before retracting the email and claiming it was sent in ‘administrative error’.
Dov Forman, 21, a student and descendant of Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, said it took him 26 hours to travel home from Jerusalem after he made the decision to cross the border into Egypt without UK Government support, earlier this week.
Describing the journey he said: ‘When I was travelling through the Egyptian border the German and Hungarian embassies both had buses waiting for their citizens as they were coming through.
‘Whereas hundreds of British citizens I was with are all making their own journey home, worrying about their own safety, and fronting the costs themselves – all while running away from a war zone.’
The FCDO has been contacted for comment.
