“Special flight” Israel-France: between relief and anger of citizens

First exit door. Before the National Assembly on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced that a “special flight” operated by Air France would be organized on Thursday to repatriate French citizens currently in Israel who wish to return. After Saturday and Hamas’ offensive against the Jewish state, air travel to and from Europe became more infrequent and even disrupted for some companies.

The flight should be followed by others, “probably on Friday and Saturday, with Air France and other companies,” Catherine Colonna reported on the website franceinfo on Wednesday evening.

During the day, the French Embassy in Tel Aviv provided details of the “special flight” that took place on Thursday. The 380-seat commercial flight will depart at 10am from Paris Charles de Gaulle and is scheduled to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 3:20pm, the airline told us. It will then depart with French citizens at 16:40 and return to Paris at 20:45.

However, this repatriation flight only targets “compatriots who are considered the most vulnerable among French citizens passing through and residing in Israel,” the embassy points out, which refers to “unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities or critical medical situations. These people were supposed to report to the embassy before 15:00 this Wednesday.

According to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “about 62,000 French citizens are registered at the Consulate General in Tel Aviv and 25,000 are registered at our Consulate General in Jerusalem.” Moreover, “there are a lot of French people passing through there at the moment.” According to our information, “more than 4 thousand requests” for repatriation were sent, a figure that was not confirmed by the embassy.

Help for those who may return

Fabienne’s mother and daughter will arrive on Thursday’s flight. This Parisian resident waited all day to find out if Yael, a 17-year-old autistic woman, would be able to take part in the trip. At the end of the day, she received a confirmation email. “You have no idea how relieved I am,” she tells us. Her daughter left at the end of September, accompanied by her grandmother, to spend the holidays in houses in Israel. “Yael can’t stay there,” Fabienne explained, “very upset” at the thought of her daughter and her mother staying there any longer.

It was not for nothing that at the embassy, ​​where she called many times, “they told me that they could not assure me that she would be there.” In case his daughter and her mother could not be part of the “special flight”, the embassy advised him to “take plane tickets to Cyprus, then from Cyprus to Paris!” » Fabienne had already bought four plane tickets for flights between Israel and Paris, all of which were cancelled. Despite the relief, she believes that “a 380-seat plane, when thousands of people are asking to return, is in many ways not enough! »

Adrian and his family are still waiting for that famous confirmation letter. “Anxiety” is present, he admits to us. This 43-year-old Frenchman was vacationing with his wife and 9-month-old child along with his relatives in Kibbutz Gevim, near Sderot. On Saturday morning, during massacres by simultaneous Hamas attackers at several kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip border, his family escaped the worst.

“Two security volunteers came face to face with terrorists in a pickup truck, so they turned back, they lost the element of surprise,” he told our columns on Tuesday, still in shock. The family waited until the next day to leave and take refuge with friends in Palmachim, near Tel Aviv. Adrian bought tickets from Transavia for a return flight to Paris on Thursday, but they were cancelled. His hopes of returning are now tied to this “special flight.”

“One life is not worth more than another”

More flights of this type are expected to take place in the coming days, but are always reserved for “the most urgent situations,” Catherine Colonna said Wednesday. “Scheduled flights to Tel Aviv are suspended at this stage until further notice,” says Air France, which promises to “reassess the situation on the ground daily.” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday: “Together with Air France, we are ensuring that flights can resume as quickly as possible. »

For the French, who are not entitled to these “special flights”, concern is mixed with anger. “We understand that there are vulnerable people in need of urgent repatriation. However, the French state must recognize the seriousness of the situation throughout the country. We, too, are under fire, shocked, scared and in constant anxiety. We think that one life is not worth more than another,” sighs 28-year-old Alexis. He and his partner came to Israel to celebrate the wedding of a couple of friends; They were originally due to return on Thursday, but their flight was cancelled.

VIDEO. ‘We feel abandoned’: Chloe stranded in Tel Aviv criticizes France for inaction

Alexis laments the lack of response and support from the French state: “Many countries have carried out the repatriation of their populations, and France, as usual, is dragging its feet…” He launched a petition asking the government to “intervene to ensure security.” and the well-being of its citizens abroad.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Chloe, 28, who has been on holiday with a friend since the start of the month. “As a nurse, I understand all the more that people need care, but I don’t understand why we can’t go back. We feel in danger, this is a war situation,” she warns from Tel Aviv. At the consulate on Wednesday morning, “the diplomat told us that the situation is not that serious, that we are young and healthy, so we will still have to cope on our own.”

After the cancellation of a flight scheduled for tomorrow to Paris, two friends took a ticket to Copenhagen (Denmark) on Sunday on the Israeli airline El Al at a price of 1,200 euros per seat and with no guarantee that it would be kept. “We feel like we’ll never come back,” she laments.