Dutch people left behind in Israel feel abandoned: ‘Book a flight? Which one then?’ | Domestic

Remco from Haarlem should have been safely back at Schiphol with his pregnant wife and three small children on Wednesday evening. In the morning they were supposed to fly via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, but things turned out differently. The flight was canceled at the last minute.

And so they are still in their rented apartment in Tel Aviv. Initially they were going to travel through the country until December, but after the outbreak of violence they want to leave as quickly as possible. Only how? No airline seems to want to fly to the country anymore.

All hopes were pinned on the two evacuation flights that the Dutch cabinet is now having carried out. But in the evening it turns out that they were not able to get a ticket for that either. “I think they underestimated this terribly in the Netherlands,” says a frustrated Remco. “They thought two flights would be enough. We had not initially reported this, because we could have arranged a flight ourselves. But now that that is no longer possible, we are also dependent on it.”

The town where the family is staying is about 60 kilometers away from where the heaviest fighting takes place, but air raid sirens were also sounded there several times. When the deafening noise sounds, they are playing a game with the children. Whoever gets to the safety room first wins. “We are not very anxious and this is nothing compared to the suffering that both Palestinians and Israeli citizens are now experiencing, but we are not very comfortable here right now.”

The most frustrating thing is that they don’t know how to get back now. As a precaution, Remco booked a flight for next Sunday. But there is no guarantee that this will work. KLM was supposed to pick up Dutch people on Thursday, but that flight was canceled due to deteriorating conditions. Defense will therefore send a second plane on Thursday to pick up stranded travelers.

And there are more Dutch people who are still in the dark about how they can return, as it turns out at Eindhoven air base, where the first repatriation flight with an air force aircraft will arrive on Wednesday evening. Many happy family members receive their loved ones. But a concerned father and grandfather from Waalwijk came especially to the airport to express his frustration.

He is not at all pleased with the attitude of the Dutch embassy in Israel. His 39-year-old daughter and her 5- and 7-year-old sons are stuck in Gedera, where they have to repeatedly go to the shelter. In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the 7-year-old grandson had to go to the hospital. “He was so shocked by a huge bang and the anti-aircraft fire outside that he fell out of bed and suffered a head injury,” says Carel, who does not want his surname to be published in the media. “The embassy does nothing. Figure it out, that’s what their attitude boils down to.”

He is furious. “I am happy for all those people who are here and see their loved ones again. But there are also Dutch people who cannot return.”

His daughter’s family had gone to Israel on September 6 to visit his son-in-law’s sick mother. “Now they keep getting advice from the embassy: find an airline and book. But either everything is fully booked, or flights are cancelled. They have nowhere to go.”

“There were also flights today, but everything is cancelled. My daughter had booked and paid for Transavia. Got cancelled. Then booked and paid for Pegasus. Also cancelled. When she calls the embassy, ​​she is told again and again: try to book a flight. But which?”

An email she received from the embassy states: ‘You are responsible for choosing whether you stay or leave and via which route.’ Carel: “But everything is closed, so many people want to leave, flights have been cancelled. They are in terrible uncertainty. This is very traumatic for the children. The embassy says: ‘Keep calling us.’ But the message is always the same: ‘Be patient, try the next flight’. They feel horribly abandoned!”

Remco from Haarlem also understands little about the way this operation is set up. “Why didn’t they have a military plane flying back and forth from the beginning? It’s bizarre.”

In the meantime, the first returnees got out around 10:10 p.m. This also includes the students and teachers of Guido de Brès secondary school. When the first ones get off the plane, parents and employees clap. People stand on the chairs to see everything clearly.

The air raid sirens went off at Tel Aviv airport before they left. According to the school director, it was a bomb threat. “They all had to lie on the ground, but it turned out to be a false alarm.” The family members of the students and supervisors were in uncertainty for days. For example, Hannah woke up and saw all kinds of texts. Her sister was in a bomb shelter. “They had nowhere to go.” The past few days have been difficult for her. “I’m so glad she’ll be back soon.”

René Wallenburg jumped onto the concrete platform of Eindhoven Air Base with a shout of cheering. A big hug for his wife Marjan and once again the arms were raised in the air. Landed safely, back from the hell that Israel had become. It is the discharge of a day full of tension, he tells the ED. The low point was the alarm, just when they were at the check-in desk in Tel Aviv. “It was exciting until the last moment.”

Wim Jonker almost lost it when he was waiting for his daughter, who kept not coming. “It was a rollercoaster,” he describes his feelings of the past few days. “Fortunately we had a lot of contact, FaceTime was perfect. But seeing the fear in your daughter’s eyes is terrible.”