White House National Security spokesman John Kirby was pressed on why the Biden administration appears to have left Americans stranded in Israel to fend for themselves, even as more than a dozen other countries have evacuated their citizens.
“I want to start with the efforts to get Americans out of Israel right now,” NewsNation correspondent Blake Burman told Kirby. “I think Sen. Josh Hawley sort of summed it up what many people are asking. Here’s a social media post he put out, Here’s that quote: ‘For the second time in two years, Americans are stranded in a war zone. What’s the plan to get them out? How can you answer that question?’”
“Well a couple of things here: First of all, commercial flights are still going in and out of Ben Gurion airport, so that’s always an option for those who may want to leave,” Kirby said.
“How was it that we are seemingly behind several countries on this front?” Berman followed up after noting that Fiji, Hungary, and South Korea have already evacuated their citizens.
“I think I would take issue with you that we’re behind anybody here. We have been exploring options and continue to do that,” Kirby replied. "I would just say stay tuned, I think we'll have more to say very soon about what some of those options are going to look like."
"Senator @HawleyMO sort of summed it up, what many people are asking ... he said, 'For the second time in two years, Americans are stranded in a war zone. What's the plan to get them out?'"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 11, 2023
JOHN KIRBY: Buy a commercial flight pic.twitter.com/g0cBW3KiLH
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The comments come after President Biden instructed Americans earlier this week to explore “ground options” and said “commercial flights” were still available, despite most major airlines canceling services out of the country.
“Panicked” Americans have been desperately reaching out to their representatives in Congress for help.
Over 140 lawmakers signed a letter calling on the State Department to “use every tool at its disposal to get Americans out,” while others, like Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) took matters into their own hands.
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