From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
US ambassador Huckabee advises US citizens in Israel to evacuate via Egypt, noting ‘limited options’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advises US citizens in Israel wishing to leave the country to do so via Egypt, hours after the US urged all of its citizens in the Middle East to immediately evacuate the region amid fighting with Iran.
Watch my message to American citizens in Israel and be sure to register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive important security updates directly. >> https://t.co/8fk1kydTB2 pic.twitter.com/r4IV0WQFEk
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) March 3, 2026
Huckabee explains in a video shared on social media that the Tourism Ministry is providing bus services from Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem to Taba, just across the border in Egypt. From there, he says, “limited” flights could be available from the Taba International Airport, or ground transportation can be taken to Cairo, “where the airport is operating normally and efficiently,” except for flights to Middle East destinations.
“The options are fairly limited,” Huckabee acknowledges. “The airport is closed, of course, and we don’t know when it will be open or how many flights [will be available.]”
The embassy does not recommend travel through Jordan, “because of some challenges that are being faced there, the sporadic ability of the airport to be open, and the limited hours of the Allenby Crossing to get into Jordan,” Huckabee adds.
He reiterates the US directive for all citizens to register with the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) via step.state.gov to get updates.
Estimates suggest there are at least 200,000 American citizens in Israel.
“We hope that all of this will be over soon,” Huckabee adds, “But how grateful we are for an amazing country and a great president who has decided that after 47 years of the hostile actions against the United States from Iran, that we are joining together, not just with Israel, but now it appears the rest of the Middle East, in saying, ‘enough is enough.'”
The US has not organized its own evacuation flights, and commercial flights have been disrupted across the region. Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain have shuttered their airspace. Israel is not expected to reopen its airspace before next week, and the country’s main international Hub, Ben Gurion Airport, is closed.
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