New York Elected Officials Seek to Create Fund to Reimburse Travelers Fleeing War-Torn Israel

By Yehudit Garmaise

After Hamas committed violent atrocities on Simchas Torah in Southern Israel, many Americans indebted themselves to find flights home, often stopping first in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates or European cities, such as Rome.

As rumors swirled that Ben Gurion Airport might be at risk of being bombed, major airlines started to cancel flight after flight amidst the horrors Jews experienced on October 7.

As a result, many Americans were willing to pay any price to escape what had become a war-torn country overnight.

Even passengers whom the US State Department provided flights back to the US were required to sign forms that committed travelers to reimburse the American federal government for the cost of their escapes.

“We don’t think this is acceptable,” State Senator Julia Salazar, (D-Brooklyn), who, along with State Senator Gustavo Rivera and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, introduced legislation last week that would create a state fund that would reimburse New York residents for their trouble.

While Salazar estimated that the New York Legislature should provide $500,000 to repay the overcharged travelers, she was not sure what the final amount of funding would be until the number of how many New York residents were hit hard by their travel costs out of Israel in the last two weeks.

No matter how many residents require reimbursement, the final number will amount to “a nominal amount of money in the context of the State budget,” noted Salazar, who did not provide how much each traveler would be reimbursed.

Marc Cohen, whose family vacation in Israel was abruptly cut short when Hamas viciously attacked Israeli civilians, praised the New York legislature for supporting New Yorkers fleeing violence.

Cohen expressed gratitude that the legislature was “working to ensure that [travelers] don’t have to fear a loss of money for getting themselves to safety.