El Al, the flagship airline of Israel is famous for its daring rescue of Jews from Ethiopia during Operation Solomon back in 1991. But today, in the era of coronavirus, the airliner has undertaken a different kind of rescue operation.
There are currently hundreds of Israeli citizens stuck in Peru and South America reports 0404. Unfortunately, due to border closings in the Latin American country, they are unable to return to Israel.
But after discussions between Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yisrael Katz and El Al executives on Tuesday, a “rescue effort” is now underway to fly an empty El Al flight to Peru and bring the stranded Israelis back home to the Holy Land.
It all started when an Israeli backpacker in Peru named Bar Levi, penned an open letter to Israel’s government pleading for help: “We are begging for help to return to Israel. We are afraid to stay enclosed in a third-world country without adequate medical equipment and the advanced medical care that exists in Israel. We are worried that we will fall ill here and God-forbid, our situation will worsen. I call on the Israel’s government to return us home before it’s too late.”
Levi added that Israelis were being demanded to pay roughly $3,500 for direct commercial flights back to Israel – a cost that the mainly post-army backpackers simply couldn’t afford.
