Miami woman stranded in Israel returns, says ‘I can breathe again'
Dahlia Bendavid went without birthday candles on Saturday, ringing in her 59th year aboard a flight to Vienna. The Austrian capital was not her dream locale, she confessed, but how could she not jump at the chance? Travel options are limited when attempting to flee a war zone.
The Aventura woman was one of several Miamians who found themselves stranded in Israel after the country's June 13 surprise missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and top military officials. With retaliation from Iran hours later, the two Middle Eastern countries have spent the last 11 days in a lethal tit-for-tat that's left hundreds dead, according to the Associated Press.
READ MORE: 'Oh my God, what's going on?' Miami visitors stranded as missiles target Israel
Since the conflict's start, Bendavid's daily routine came to include mapping out bomb shelters near her place, creating group chats to keep tabs on other marooned South Floridians and applying for every evacuation route available to Americans.
Now safely home, she admits the stress of living amid siren sounds and missile debris has yet to wear off.
'On the one hand, I feel like a weight that was on my chest has been lifted and I can breathe again,' said the 59-year-old. 'But at the same time, it's bittersweet, because I'm constantly thinking about the people there and also feel guilty about not being there.'
Bendavid touched ground in Miami Sunday at 6:30 p.m. after a multi-stop route that took her through Tel Aviv, Vienna and Zurich before arriving home. Originally planning to leave Tuesday on one of Gov. Ron DeSantis four chartered jets, resourced by Tampa-based nonprofit Grey Bull Rescue, her hopes were crushed when the first group of evacuees was delayed into a three-day journey that temporarily halted other scheduled trips.
READ MORE: Americans fleeing Israel fly to Tampa on flights chartered by DeSantis
Leaving behind fellow South Floridians, including her coworkers from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation with whom she entered Israel two weeks before the conflict, proved tougher than her desire to make it back home. She estimates around 500 residents of Miami-Dade County are still stuck in the country based on a WhatsApp chat her team created for stranded South Floridians to stay in contact and share tips for evacuating.
Bendavid's escape route was facilitated by the Jewish Agency for Israel, a partner of the nonprofit she works for, which offered to fly her group out from Ben Gurion Airport, located in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. From there, she traveled to Vienna where she overnighted before heading to Zurich and, finally, Miami, totaling 15 hours in the air.
Since takeoff was slated for Saturday, a few group members chose to stay back to observe the Sabbath.
Those left behind, whether by choice or circumstance, are stuck adapting to a dystopian reality, says Bendavid.
Her 29-year-old son Ariel, who moved to Tel Aviv a year and a half ago, is adjusting to 30-minute sleep intervals as sirens go off at an almost hourly rate, forcing Israelis to wake up, find shelter and wait out the alerts multiple times a night.
A friend of Bendavid's and her daughter continue to clock in to their jobs while stranded, comparing it to an all-too-familiar form of isolation.
'In a way, it's kind of like COVID, where you're not straying far from your house. You're all stuck inside, working on Zooms and doing your work remote, plus the feeling of being post-October 7,' she said. 'But yet, this is scarier, because of the missiles and the potential damage.'
Anxiety left from being stranded in the war zone and evacuee's guilt keeps her up at night — Bendavid says she slept a little over an hour her first night home, compulsively checking the latest news on the conflict — but she's grateful for the perspective it's granted her and others from the Western world.
'People [in Israel] try to go about their daily business as much as they can and, when you're here, you're removed from it,' she said. 'You look all over the world at conflict, and for the most part, people in the United States are extremely privileged and fortunate. I don't think people realize how much we are here.'
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