Pair charter flight to take reservists to Tel Aviv

David Malka, a cryptocurrency venture capitalist based in Puerto Rico, was unfamiliar with the logistics of transporting supplies and army reservists into war zones before Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

But Saturday morning, just a week after the conflict began, Malka was at Los Angeles International Airport loading supplies meant for Israeli civilians onto a charter plane destined for Tel Aviv.

Israel has called up about 360,000 reservists ahead of a widely expected ground invasion of Gaza to wipe out Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the US. Military service is compulsory for the majority of Israelis when they turn 18. After completing compulsory service, most IDF personnel are eligible to be called up to reserve units until age 40, or older, in case of national emergency.

But since the onset of the conflict, carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. have canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv — home to Israel’s largest international airport. While the US government has said it will offer charter flights to transport American citizens out of Israel and has sent an aircraft carrier group to the region, the Biden administration has issued a travel advisory warning citizens to “reconsider” going to Israel and the West Bank.

That’s forced the thousands of reservists overseas to seek help coordinating travel from private citizens such as Malka. Along with his friend Jordan Fried, a crypto-investor and founder of a nonprofit called Ukraine Friends that provides critical aid for Ukrainians impacted by Russia’s invasion, they fronted $1 million to charter the Airbus A330-200 that transported over 150 Israeli Defense Force reservists, stranded Israelis, and American Jews from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Hamas’s incursion into southern Israel last weekend killed 1,300 Israelis, while airstrikes on Gaza have killed more than 1,900 Palestinians since.

Omer Bourvine, 27, was working in the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa when she got the call from her commanding officer in the IDF instructing her to return home. “I had friends who were killed in the attack and it was tough watching and waiting,” said Bourvine, who was unable to leave Canada earlier because of passport issues.