TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida's governor is offering up new details on his effort to use state resources to bring stranded Floridians back from Israel.
While on the 2024 campaign trail in New Hampshire on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted his Thursday executive order and estimated there were "hundreds" of Floridians in the beleaguered nation.
His rescue program taps the state emergency management division to fly those stranded in Israel back to the U.S. or at least to a safer location. DEM has created an online signup sheet for those in need and is pulling money from a $500 million disaster fund that the Legislature created last year.
"We weren't able to land yet, but I think we've gotten that fixed," DeSantis told a crowd in New Hampshire. "I think they're going to let us bring planes into Israel and get people home. The number of Floridians over there is clearly in the hundreds. Maybe even more than that, so it's really, really important that we get people back to safety."
DeSantis claimed that "the federal government wasn't really doing what it needed to do to get people out."
His effort, however, comes as U.S. officials were in the middle of a similar operation.
Federal authorities said Friday they already had at least one charter flight in the air, evacuating citizens to Europe. More were expected as the shortage of commercial flights out of Israel grew.
The dueling rescue efforts have some Florida lawmakers condemning DeSantis for not trying to work directly with the administration of President Joe Biden.
"What I would like to see him doing is calling the federal government and saying, 'How can we help,'" state Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, said. "'Do you need some of our planes? What can we do instead of it becoming a competition?'"
Polsky went on to suggest the governor was using his efforts to gain publicity for his 2024 White House bid.
"I've been very dismayed by the politics of it all," Polsky said. "And, within our state, there have been many people who are taking this opportunity just to go after President Biden."
It's unclear when Florida's first flights may occur, and whether the state will use the same vendors as it did for the controversial migrant relocation program. DEM officials said for the "safety and security of the people involved, that information cannot be released, unfortunately."
