France reportedly draws up plans to evacuate 200,000 Franco-Israelis in case of war
Small ships to be used to carry French nationals offshore to safety; ‘standard procedures,’ says embassy in Tel Aviv
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French nationals residing in Israel stand in line as they wait to vote in the French presidential election in May, at a polling station in Jerusalem (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel /Flash90)
Paris has reportedly drawn up emergency plans to evacuate French citizens from Israel in case of war.
The plan, reported by French news outlet La Tribune, would see 200,000 French nationals ferried in small boats to large warships stationed in the Mediterranean.
Diplomatic sources told the news outlet the plan was drawn up amid fears that Israel may come under attack from Iran or Hezbollah in the wake of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites.
Sources at the French Embassy in Tel Aviv told the paper that the plan was part of standard procedures and not out of the ordinary.
In 2006, France carried out a large scale evacuation in Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War, ferrying thousands of people to Cyprus, or large ships waiting offshore.
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