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.