U.S. State Department has begun evacuations of Americans from Israel, Huckabee says

Source: CBS News

Updated on: June 21, 2025 / 3:13 PM EDT


The U.S. Department of State has begun assisted departure flights from Israel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X Saturday. "If you are a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident currently in Israel or the West Bank and seeking U.S. government assistance to depart, please complete this form so the Department of State can better assist you and provide you with timely updates: https://mytravel.state.gov/s/crisis-intake," Huckabee wrote. "If you have only completed the crisis intake form, please do not fill it out again."

His announcement comes days after confusion about whether the U.S. government would be assisting American citizens evacuating from Israel. Huckabee said on June 18, the sixth day of the Israel-Iran war, that the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem was assisting U.S. citizens with evacuation flights and cruise ship departures, only for the State Department to say later that day they had "no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time."

The following day, the U.S. Embassy sent a message to Americans who had enrolled in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) that the State Department was "planning for contingencies to assist with private U.S. citizens' departure from Israel. We will alert the U.S. citizen community if there is additional information to share regarding departure options," the embassy said. "It asked Americans in Israel interested in leaving the country to fill out an online form."

The U.S. State Department has also placed Israel under a Level 4 travel advisory, telling Americans not to travel there due to "armed conflict, terrorism and civil unrest." Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel's major airport, is currently closed and several commercial airlines have paused flights from Israel to the United States.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-huckabee-us-evacuation-americans-in-israel/