15 Israelis evacuated from Vietnam

The Israeli Embassy in Vietnam managed to get 15 Israelis out of the country and headed toward Israel on Sunday.

Israeli Consul to Vietnam Liat Shoham gathered the tourists in Hanoi and found commercial flights to places with connections to Israel. She helped the Israelis reach Hanoi even though the city is in lockdown.

Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Ashkar said he was “happy and proud that all of our efforts bore fruit in the end… and [the returning Israelis] will be able to celebrate Passover at home.”

More than 6,000 Israelis contacted the Foreign Ministry in recent weeks in an attempt to return.

The Foreign Ministry and embassies around the world have helped Israelis pass through areas under lockdown. They organized special flights, including the first-ever direct commercial flights between Israel and Australia. The Foreign Ministry also arranged for Central American militaries to fly Israelis to places where there would be flights back to Israel.

As of Sunday, there were 1,893 Israelis still trying to return; 210 came back on Thursday, and eight returned over the weekend.

The countries with the most Israelis trying to return home are Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

There were direct flights to Israel from London, Minsk, Addis Ababa and New York scheduled for Sunday, Bucharest and New York on Monday and London, Miami (special El Al flight) and New York on Tuesday.

Special El Al flights from Delhi, New Zealand and Australia were under consideration on Sunday.

A special Ethiopian Airlines flight, from Buenos Aires to São Paulo with a stopover in Addis Ababa on the way to Tel Aviv, is expected in the coming days.