Eleven people visiting from a Sioux City synagogue have had a difficult time getting out of Israel, as the military strikes that have been happening between Israel and Iran made for some very bracing days.
Greg Giles in a Monday phone call told Siouxland Public Media the planned three day trip to Jerusalem by him and 10 others from Congregation Beth Shalom became harrowing on Friday, June 13.
“It was very frightening to hear the explosions above you in the air, while the sirens are blaring and you are huddled together with hundreds of strangers and 11 people you know in a basement fallout bunker. So that was early Friday morning, then everything shut down. The entire city, the entire country shut down, all flights were canceled,” Giles said.
Out of concerns that Iran was close to having the capacity to use an atomic bomb, Israel began military strikes in Iran shortly after the Beth Shalom people arrived, which included Rabbi Meir Goldstein and his wife Eliora.
On Sunday, an attack occurred as Giles and the others were out in the open, in making moves to get out of Israel, which has been an extended, difficult process. During that attack, they saw first hand the functioning of the Iron Dome, which is an Israeli mobile missile defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery.
“We saw these rockets flying overhead and intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, which was amazing. As far as we know, none of (the rockets) landed in Jerusalem, they all got intercepted. You know, you could hear the explosives all around the city,” Giles said.
“It wasn’t to the level of the ground shaking, but you could absolutely hear explosions around the ring, suburban, exurban areas of Jerusalem. It was one of the scariest things I’ve gone through in my life, if not the scariest.”
There has been a United States element too in the fighting, as on Saturday, American planes delivered a strike in Iran. Later on Monday, Iran officials said they fired missiles at the U.S. base in Qatar.
The last two days have involved a lot of hurry up and wait, as the Sioux City contingent are using the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation services to get home. That’s a group that has worked since 2021 to get stranded Americans out of war zones.
The journey by Giles and the others included being bussed from Jerusalem, driving into the nation of Jordan and waiting in the capital Amman, for the next step.
On Monday, in a text message update, Giles described a flight from Amman into the island nation of Cyprus, which went well, and then the unexpected good news of an imminent flight towards Florida.
