Florida has brought nearly 700 Americans home from Israel

Florida so far has brought home nearly 700 Americans who were stranded in Israel.

Florida law enforcement officers also are arresting antisemitic agitators after the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, including over 30 Americans.

Hamas, the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement), was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. “It is the largest and most capable militant group in the Palestinian territories and one of the territories’ two major political parties,” the National Counterterrorism Center says.

On Oct. 12, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida and directed the Division of Emergency Management to execute a "Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and other response, recovery, and mitigation plans necessary to cope with the emergency, including any logistical, rescue, or evacuation operations" to bring Americans home who were stranded in Israel.

"Unlike the governments of other countries, the Biden Administration has failed to launch any form of rescue or evacuation operations for Americans, including Floridians, who are stranded in the region, and has failed to provide information requested by the State of Florida about any plans for such operations,” he said.

Within three days of making the announcement, Florida brought home nearly 300 Americans. Since then, nearly 700 Americans have been flown to Florida on four flights to Tampa and Orlando international airports.

By Oct. 20, the Florida legislature called a special session to expand state sanctions on Iran, among other issues.

Florida has also beefed up security efforts to protect its Jewish residents. Since Oct. 8, Florida Highway Patrol Quick Reaction Force troopers and nearly 100 FDLE agents and crime intelligence analysts have been focused on safeguarding Florida synagogues, Jewish Day Schools and Jewish residents by monitoring of events and investigating suspicious activity reports, the governor’s office said.

As a result, several arrests have been made including of an individual outside of the Capitol Complex in Tallahassee. The individual was known to law enforcement for engaging in “domestic disturbances and altercations, leaving harassing messages with local seated public officials and acting suspiciously outside of synagogues” as well as “being dressed in a tactical vest and acting suspiciously” outside of a synagogue.

One notable arrest was in Miami Beach on Oct. 17, when an individual told a security guard he was a member of Hamas and “was attempting to bomb a Jewish school in Miami Beach.” He was charged with “harassment, assault, disturbing school/religious assemblies and threatening to discharge a bomb,” according to the governor’s office.

Other notable arrests in the Miami area include an individual who allegedly resisted an officer without violence at the “Protest for Palestine” event at Miami Bayfront Park and a Miami man who threatened to kill hundreds of people “in a building or at a concert” if he didn’t receive federal protection “from Jewish people.” He was arrested by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the city of Miami Police Department “for making threats and extortion.”

Miami-Dade Police also arrested three people at the “Protest for Palestine” demonstration at the Florida Atlantic University-Boca Raton Campus. One student was arrested on a felony battery charge after she allegedly elbowed a pro-Israeli woman; the others were arrested for battery, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Four individuals were also arrested at a “Stop the Genocide Against the People of Gaza” event held outside of the Coral Gables office of Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. A homeless individual was also arrested by Jupiter Police officers and charged with criminal mischief for scratching swastikas in the sidewalks along Indiantown Road and Military Trail in Abacoa.

Attorney General Ashley Moody sent a memo to 21 college and university police chiefs statewide highlighting the statutes that prohibit and assign penalties for antisemitic hate crimes. She did so in the wake of Jewish students reporting feeling threatened by pro-Hamas groups on college campuses.