Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has taken matters into his own hands, sending two large airplanes filled with supplies over to Israel to help them in their fight against Hamas, the terrorist organization that initiated a surprise and brutal attack on them last weekend.
On Tuesday, DeSantis announced the move, which saw Florida send over 85 pallets worth of supplies that were donated. Those supplies were set to arrive in Israel that day.
In a statement this week, DeSantis commented:
“With the lack of leadership in Washington, we are stepping up to help our allies in Israel who are in need of supplies and our support. As we continue to bring back Americans who were stranded in Israel when the war began, we will also keep sending the necessary health care supplies for Israel to care for those who have been injured.”
DeSantis, who is a GOP candidate for president in 2024, is certainly angling for some notoriety with this move, although it does fit perfectly in line with America’s long-held alliance with Israel.
Israeli hospitals identified a list full of supplies that they critically needed, and in less than five days, people in Florida prepared and packed up 85 pallets full of them to be shipped over there.
Some of the supplies included more than 10,000 boxes of surgical gloves, 57 ventilators, more than 30,000 needles and syringes, 84 IV kits, about 5,000 hospital gowns and nearly 800 ace bandages.
All of the donations weren’t medical supplies, though. In addition to that, Florida donated more than 2,000 clothing articles, more than 1,000 hygiene products, more than 300 sleeping bags and more than 2,000 children’s toys, DeSantis’ office said.
Kevin Guthrie, who serves as the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said:
“Thanks to the decisive action of Governor DeSantis, the Division was able to quickly coordinate with our Israeli partners and compile needed supplies. After working with the Israeli Consulate, medical partners and hospitals in Israel, the Division identified what items were most in need to reduce inundation and increase efficiency.”
The DeSantis administration also separately coordinated flights that brought home almost 300 Americans who evacuated from Israel due to the ongoing violence.
On Sunday night, DeSantis said in a video message posted to the social media platform X:
“We’re here at Tampa airport. We are having our first flight of people being rescued from Israel, and it’s landed. Over 260 people that wanted to get back to the United STates and couldn’t do it … so we stepped up and led. We’re happy to be able to deliver this.”
DeSantis is certainly taking a lead in trying to help Israelis and Americans stuck in Israel in the wake of the fighting. He isn’t taking a back seat to the White House, as he said, based on the fact that President Joe Biden and his administration seem to drop the ball all the time.
