The surprise attack on Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, and the war it sparked, resulted in many Americans in Israel encountering difficulties evacuating the region. D.C. playwright and producer Ari Roth was among the thousands of people who would see flight after flight canceled as airlines made the decision to no longer fly into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Roth had been in the country working on a new play about the street protests that were taking place.
“My family back in D.C. was beside themselves and they kept saying ‘you’ve got to get home any way you can,'” Roth said.
First, it was Lufthansa Airlines that canceled Roth’s flight, which was booked before the conflict kicked off, followed by United, then Air Canada. According to Roth, he then bought tickets through Ethiopian Airlines, but his family also “demanded” he sign up for a U.S. State Department program which was organizing charter flights out of Israel.
He arrived at the airport on Saturday and found a “dramatic scene,” which included the State Department staff trying to get people out.
“Senior counselors at the embassy turn into airport agents, trying to figure out how to book people, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people on charter planes that would be flying to Greece,” Roth said.
He said while most people were in “good spirits,” he did sense a lot of anxiety and even panic among those waiting to get back home.
Roth captured video of embassy staff trying to keep those waiting informed about incoming flights.
For Roth, he didn’t make the cut for two of the chartered flights, and a third flight was canceled.
Knowing that he would have to reimburse the government for the chartered flight to Greece, and possibly be stranded there, Roth made the call to book another commercial flight. This time, he was able to get a seat on a two-hour flight to Istanbul in EL-AL airlines. He then took Qatar Airways to Doha and, after a seven-hour layover, boarded a 14-hour flight to Dulles International on Monday.
From there, he said he made his first ride on the Silver Line into D.C. to reunite with his family.
“When I finally got home, they were thrilled, and it was nice to be reunited,” Roth said.
