Israel to rescue 1,000 citizens stranded in Peru lockdown

Israel intends to send a number of El Al planes to Peru to return young post-army Israelis who are stranded there, now that the country’s borders are closed due to coronavirus.

The first plane will leave on Thursday. It’s estimated that 1,000 Israelis are still in Peru, which is under martial law.

“The young people will be brought to Israel free of charge,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

Representatives from El Al, the Foreign Ministry and the

Peruvian government are coordinating the Thursday flight. Israelis will be given a police escort to the airport in Lima.

“This is the application of the principle of mutual responsibility under which the State of Israel operates in a time of emergency,” Katz said. He added that the Foreign Ministry was organizing funds for a second flight.

Israelis in Europe and Latin America are struggling to return to Israel, as countries are closing their borders and airlines are halting flights.

But in Peru there is a particularly fragile situation, because many Israelis are there as travelers on tight budgets with scant resources in a country under lockdown, where they are not allowed on the streets.

The Foreign Ministry has already returned 380 Israeli students from Moldova on two Israir Airline flights.

Separately, Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff and Deputy Head of Mission Aaron Sagui were diagnosed with the coronavirus, the Foreign Ministry reported.

“The two [diplomats] are feeling well and are in their homes,” the Ministry said.