My friend’s brother-in-law is 70 and has been called to prepare to be an ambulance driver.

I went to one of Israel's biggest malls today. Despite its size it is usually jammed. Today it was almost empty of customers and about 90% of the shops were closed. Still, I managed to pick up some toys and clothing for my granddaughter. (I also bought some clothing for my daughter -- but no toys.)

Despite everything that is going on, I hope you are able to at least enjoy being able to spend time with your granddaughter.

I love seeing her, but as she is two-years-old and generally sees me about twice a month, she doesn't really understand the connection between us so that puts a damper on her enthusiasm. Hopefully, by next year, she will understand it better.

Around 3 pm today Hamas sent two "gifts" to us, one aimed at Safed and the other at the Haifa suburbs. This sent us into shelters but the first one was shot down by the Iron Dome system and the latter fell into an empty field.

Stay safe. Hoping that this war ends soon but fearful it will not.

I am also hoping for a quick ending, but doubt that this will be the case. I have 50 Halloween bags full of toys and candies in my house -- but don't know if I will be allowed to return in time for trick or treating.

Thanks for the updates Dovster . Wishing a speedy end to the conflict and safety for all.

Tishmor al azmeha

Dovster what’s happening with that Russian refugee family that you’ve befriended in recent years? You’ve been a generous friend to them when you were living at home.
your grandchild will better attach to you as she sees you more often. Twice a month is already super great. What helps the attachment is when her parents remind her of your importance to her. That’s what I helped do for my in-laws as we’d only see them 3-5 times a year as they lived a plane ride distance from us.

Their city has been evacuated for the duration of the war and they are staying with friends in Haifa.

Gee, if I want to go to Cyprus, I can. At 0800 this morning, the US Embassy sent me a message saying:

You have to sign a promissory note to re-imburse the government. The trip to Cyprus is by boat, taking an estimated 12 hours, and as it earns me no points or miles I will pass on this offer.

We did not register for the evacuation program as no pets are allowed. That’s an immediate nonstarter for me. Our 🐾🐾 are part of the family. They take shelter with us every night.

How much is the U.S. Government charging?

This might be ill-informed, but could foreign nationals travel by land to Jordan and then fly out via Amman? That sounds easier than a 12-hour boat ride, but perhaps the land border and land travel are more difficult than a simple border check?

Today, I noticed the United app advising folks to fly out via Amman, Dubai, or Athens - I'm assuming they are assuming you could find a local airline to get you out of Israel.

Israeli passport holders can not access/cross the King Hussein Bridge if it’s open. So there’s an automatic 3-5 hour driving delay to begin with. Moreover, Israeli Foreign Ministry have advised against travel to any Arab country due to risks from Hamas sympathizers. There are > 2 million Palestinians in Jordan. I know people who have gone this route on a US passport, but nobody on an IL passport.

We had around 15 hours of quiet before this last barrage. My little dog now starts shaking when we get in the stairwell. Our daughter seems to be doing better as does our bigger dog.

That has not been revealed. I imagine that the cost of hiring the boat will be divided among the number of passengers who get on it.

That is correct as far as I understand it. Evacuees are responsible for the cost incurred. Historical data suggests $400-$500 cost.

It is almost 11 pm here and this will be my last post of the day.

My son-in-law and I had an interesting conversation tonight.

i should mention that the house I am staying at is about a 20 minute drive from Har Megiddo -- which in the English translation of the New Testament is called "Armageddon".

I mentioned about my friend‘s brother being called to drive an ambulance - it’s because he has a commercial driver’s license even at age 70.
their cousin’s child recently died as an Israeli soldier. I haven’t asked my SF friends about their families in Israel.

So I'm somewhat late to this thread.

Dov - I came on here after seeing earlier that Yiron is part of the evacuation order in the North. (After evacuating 60k+ people from communities that are within 15 seconds rocket range from Gaza, Israel is now doing the same in the North; Dov's kibbutz is on the evacuation list.)

I arrived in Israel (with Mrs CO FF) on the 28th. (I joined the grandpa ranks on Sept 26; he is, of course, adorable. Unfortunately, my daughter-in-law has been a single parent since the morning of the 7th, when my son was called to active duty. Life in Israel means you go to the Army when the country is attacked...even if it means leaving an 11 day old child.)

We were supposed to leave on the 11th, flying UA. That was cancelled. We rebooked for the 15th on UA; ditto. We rebooked for the 15th on EK; ditto. Now we're rebooked tomorrow on LY to a city in Europe, and UA the rest of the way to LAX. UA has done a pretty good job (a few 1K agents didn't know that they had near-total flexibility, but HUCA worked well).

BIG kudos for the staff at the Ritz-Carlton Herzliyah. We moved here on points (to get a little further north from Gaza) on the 10th. For 48 hours, it was the quintessential RC experience: attentive staff, gourmet food, lovely facilities. Then, on the 12th, while we were with family (doing laundry...the laundry prices here are a bit steep), the RC took in 50+ families that had been evacuated from the Gaza area. Gone was the quiet tranquility.

Instead, I've witnessed the most amazing display of HOSPITALITY that I've ever seen from a hotel. They went from sub-50% occupancy to 100% occupancy in an afternoon, with barely any warning. Since all nearby restaurants are closed, they had to provide 100% meal service to most guests. They switched from the restaurant to the catering facilities for all meals, and had full Israeli buffets 3x daily. The staff treated all of the evacuee guests as if they were Lifetime Diamond members; they literally moved tables around to let one older couple sit where they wanted. And taking care of the evacuees did not stop the hotel from providing typical Ritz-Carlton level service to the already-booked customers; there is turndown service to every room, we had a sommelier break away from doing double-duty running food to the buffet Friday night to recommend wine, and the bartender was even apologetic when the crush of business Saturday night forced them to have to make our "last call" round of drinks in the "wrong" type of glass.

MRP....how are you doing?

Dov,

Thanks for answering my latest email and telling me about this thread. Since I never come to FT anymore, I wasn't aware.

1st: Thank G-d you, and other FTers are as safe as you can be for now, This is going to be a long and bloody conflict. Stay safe and enjoy your granddaughter and family

2nd: I am so happy that you decided that Corona was safer than staying, like you last told me (you stubborn old man;))

Last, but far from least, condolences on the passing of Dementia

As an aside. Our friends and family here in Cincinnati, Cleveland, NYC and NJ are all safe for now. Two of our friends have family in Israel that are in the IDF. Two granddaughters, a son, son-in-law and two

You are in our constant thoughts and prayers

I did not make that decision. The Army made it for me. I had decided to stay on the kibbutz but the Army ordered all civilians to leave it (and about another 27 kibbutzim).

So, you are still old and stubborn, just forced to bow to authority:)

I'm still glad you did Dov. I hope and pray that your home is still there when you return and this madness ends soon!

I keep hearing fighter jets flying overhead 24/7. I do not know if they are headed south toward Gaza or north to the border with Lebanon.

I imagine that the average Gaza resident, not members of Hamas, and I have to believe that they, like me -- and like BEYFlyer in 2006 -- want to be able to return to their homes and not to worry about being killed.

I hope you and family (and other families ) have the supplies you need. Water, food, meds etcetc........I can't imagine stores of any sort a good idea now even though you said you did go to one last week.....Hope you had time to pack up necessities before you left home.

Your story moved me. Thank you for sharing.

Unlike Sarah Palin, Dov can actually see Lebanon from his porch. I know, I've been to his house.

Shh! That is a secret. If the brunette on the other side of the border finds out how much I can see with my binoculars she may decide to close her window curtains. :cool:

Ah Dovster, your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. Here's hoping that this situation doesn't escalate any further. Fingers crossed...

I live in the heart of Tel Aviv. In the early days of the war, the center of donations for the city and perhaps the country was a 2 minute walk from me in Dizengoff Circle.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4ae101f7f.jpeg
Dizengoff Circle (Square - don’t ask why it’s misnamed)

There was no bottled water to be found in my neighborhood for 3 days as people were scooping it up and donating it. Inventory has returned to the shelves, but foreign goods on JIT shipping are starting to disappear. My dogs eat sensitive stomach dog food and our vet is out of stock and doesn’t know when more will arrive. Some produce is out of stock as it is/was grown on kibbutzim in evacuated or attacked areas.

Preschool may start up again soon and I hope it does. My wife is back in the office 2 days a week which makes childcare more difficult. We have a family friend staying with us who would otherwise be alone in the university dorms. Her brother is a lone soldier deployed weeks before he finished basic training. She helps out, but it’s not the same as our dayghter’s previous routine.

Our daughter no longer sleeps in her crib and her nap cycle is off. Our dogs are scared 24/7 as they know something serious is going on. All of these are first world problems as we are still safe in our home.

When my sister visited Israel a few months ago, she met that family and liked them very much. She and her daughter decided, when the war broke out, to help them financially and sent me $2000 to give to them. They live in Kiryat Shemona but are staying with friends in Haifa for the duration. Today, the father and mother drove home to pick up a number of necessities and went into a panic when they saw how much military is in the city and heard repeated explosions (from along the Lebanese border). They now want to return to Russia but cannot afford the airfare. The $2000 is sitting in my US bank account and cannot be used to buy an Aeroflot ticket because of the U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The family does not have a bank account (they can't afford it) they get paid through the Post Office and I have no idea of how to transfer to them, so we are going to meet in the Kiryon tomorrow and I will take out as much as I can from an ATM (I believe it ia 2000 shekels per day) and we will repeat this until they have all the money. After that, it is up to them if they want to use it to fly to Russia or to stay here.

Turkish is flying to Russia.

is TK flying TLV-IST or can they get El Al to IST? Not sure how easy it would be for this family to do a multi leg flight (ie would any connection feel too overwhelming?)

But it is not flying to her home city in Siberia, where she has an apartment she can live in. The question is whether she would buy her ticket from Turkish or from Aeroflot.

The other problem is the 15-year-old daughter. She hates being called "Russian" and everything about Russia. She is completely Israeli. She will not want to return to Russia.

When she was 7-years-old she decided that I am her grandfather and still refers to me as such. Should her parents require her to return with them? If she wants to stay in Israel, should I offer to let her live in my house? Can a 15-year-old girl be comfortable living with a 77-year-old man and (not now, but perhaps in a year or two) have to take care of him?

But they have suspended all of their flights to TLV. They are also playing games with rescheduling/refunding reservations to and from TLV; however, that is for discussion in another thread and forum.

For money transfer, Wise should work with the post office bank. You just need to get their IBAN info and it will go right in. I’ll dm you a referral.

As for the 15 year old, how do you feel about adopting a child for 2-3 years until she joins the army or does national service?

It would not be easy for me, but I would agree to do it.

Or, check if Israel has emancipated minors’ statutes.

Personally, I think it's crazy that they want to go back to Russia; especially Siberia.