A mother and daughter from Brooklyn, who are stuck in Jerusalem, are among the more than 1,000 Americans scrambling to find a way back home after the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran.<\/p>\n
Miriam and Adina Steinberg have been sheltering at a safe room for multiple hours a day each day since Saturday when the attack on Iran began.<\/p>\n
“The applause of the might of the military has not been balanced out by a compassion or an empathy for the people who are sort of stranded,” said Brooklyn resident Adina Steinberg.<\/p>\n
The mother and daughter from Mill Basin traveled to Jerusalem for a wedding and have been trying to find a way back home to the United States.<\/p>\n
“Around noon came the big warning, you know, if you’re American, to get out. But there was no flight to get out,” said Brooklyn resident Miriam Steinberg.<\/p>\n
Some 18,000 flights have been cancelled across the Middle East. The White House says it has identified 1,600 Americans who are stranded. The state department says it has begun “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens.”<\/p>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul says she’s unsure of the number of New Yorkers who are affected.<\/p>\n
“It’s about time that the federal government actually takes the steps that should have probably a number of days overdue, which is to charter flights and to find ways to get people home instead of just saying, hunker down in place,” Hochul said. “They need to get home.”<\/p>\n
Miriama and Adina Steinberg say the state department hotline and app hasn’t provided much help, forcing them to consider routes via another country.<\/p>\n
“We’re exploring the possibility of the exodus through Egypt. The reverse exodus. For somebody Jewish, we’re going to go to Egypt instead of from Egypt,” the Steinbergs said.<\/p>\n
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