State Department giving advice to 25,000 people in Israel, Iran, in the midst of tensions
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The State Department said on Friday that it had provided “information and support” to more than 25,000 people in Israel, the West Bank or Iran to ask for advice on what to do and how to get out.
Friday afternoon, when he put pressure on the issue during a briefing of the State Department, the spokesperson for the State Department Tammy Bruce refused in more detail on how many of these 25,000 people are American citizens or any other break in the number.
The news of the number of people that the State Department has helped come after the agency announced the training of a working group to help Americans seek to leave Israel or other countries in the Middle East.
Bruce said in a press briefing on Friday that the United States did not intend to help transport American citizens directly from Iran, and will have to manage before they can be helped by the government.
The first group of Bulgarian citizens evacuated from Israel, as well as dozens of foreign nationals from Slovenia, the United States, Belgium, Albania, Kosovo and Romania, arrived at Vassil Levsky airport in Sofia on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP photo / Valentina Petrova)
The United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said earlier this week that the Jerusalem Embassy “worked on evacuation flights and cruise ships” for Americans trying to leave Israel.
Huckabee published his statement a few hours after American embassy in Jerusalem wrote in his own x post that there was “no announcement to help private American citizens to leave at the moment”, but he has simultaneously recognized “the State Department still provides contingencies to help the private departure of American citizens of crisis areas”.
So far, the United States has not engaged in a large-scale effort to help Americans get out of Israel. But, according to ABC News, the army has helped manage certain American diplomats and family members of the United States Embassy this week.
The citizens of Poland and Austria meet in a hotel in Tel Aviv, in Israel, for evacuation in the midst of strong strikes on Israel by Iran on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Photo / baz ratner)
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Private flights to American citizens began to land in Florida on Thursday after Florida Governor Ron Desantis sent four planes to collect American citizens trapped in Israel during current violence. Other private options to get out of Israel are also available.
On Monday, the State Department increased its travel warning for Israel to the highest possible level.
