About 70 Chareidi Israelis are stuck in Morocco without a way of returning to their families in Israel following the closure of Ben-Gurion Airport last week.
The Israelis traveled to Morocco to daven by the kever of HaRav Yitzchak Abuchatzeira, z’tl, on his yom hilula (yartzheit).
The Israelis, who had no inkling prior to their flight that the airport would be closed, planned on returning to Israel on Thursday or at the very latest on Motzei Shabbos, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. Instead, they were forced to scramble to find places to stay and are making frantic efforts to find a way to return home.
The Israelis in Morocco are not the only ones stranded in foreign countries without a way home following the closure of Ben-Gurion. Hundreds of Israelis are in the same situation in various countries worldwide.
Last week, the government began planning rescue flights to return Israelis stranded abroad to Israel, including an Israir flight from Frankfurt, Germany for hundreds of Israels that was scheduled to fly on Friday. However, the flight was delayed after legal issues arose regarding the Health Ministry’s plan to allow certain Israelis to return on rescue flights while not allowing others, Channel 13 News reported.
A cabinet meeting on Thursday to establish a committee to make decisions on which Israelis are eligible for rescue flights was canceled and is set to meet on Sunday instead. However, it is unclear if the plan can be implemented at all due to the legal issues.
The cabinet is also expected on Sunday evening to approve an extension of the closure of Ben-Gurion, perhaps for several more weeks, as well as the extension of the general nationwide lockdown for another week.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
I have news for you:- We Jews have been stuck out of Israel for an entire year, banished from seeing our children & loved ones in Israel.
I couldn’t care less. They deserve it. They are idiots for flying on plane, anywhere, during covid.
כל מי שאין בו דעת אסור לרחם עליו
@avreichamshlomo
Check your yichus
@avreichamshlomo — if it so foolish and dangerous to fly on a plane then the government should ban air travel. However, if the government allows for it then they should also allow for those Israeli citizens who flew before Ben Gurion was closed to have some way of returning (perhaps by going to a special hotel for those returning from abroad).
I personally would not go, but you can’t blame people for doing that which the government & health ministry allow.
Memo to file: STAY HOME for the duration of the Pandemic!! Don’t Fly! You can’t drive 10KM around yerushalayim without finding kevorim of big tzadikim. Yiddeshkeit doesn’t hold by Catholic dogma where you adopt a “patron Rebbe” and can only daven by his kever an no other. The Ebeshter will hear your teffilos without your necessarily racking up frequent flyer miles.
The countries with the most lockdowns have the severest cases.
great , now they can daven 24/7 at the kaver