(haipo) – Moti Eliya, an Israeli, found himself in a complicated situation when he got stuck in Dubai on his way back from India to Israel. With the outbreak of fighting and the closure of airspace following missile fire at the United Arab Emirates, his plan for a two-day vacation turned into a long, drawn-out stay abroad. In an interview with Lucky Flexer of the Haifa-based news corporation “Hai Fa,” he describes a reality of dire uncertainty.
The initial shock and the realization that the stay will be extended
Moti Eliya, an Israeli, arrived in Dubai on Wednesday, after a trip to India, with the goal of getting some rest, shopping, and enjoying the local food before his scheduled return to Israel on Monday. But on Saturday, everything changed; war broke out, the skies closed, and enemy missiles began to be launched toward the United Arab Emirates. Moti says that he immediately realized that this story was not going to end in one day and that he had to prepare for a much longer stay than planned. Although he lacked nothing financially, the feeling that home was moving away and the skies were closed created a heavy sense of distress. He explains that while men can get by with minimal clothing by repeatedly washing it, the main difficulty is not logistics but the understanding that a return to normal in Israel is not in sight in the near future, and that the calm of Dubai is only a temporary cover for a global emergency.
The lack of Israeli representation and the feeling of abandonment abroad
One of the most painful issues in the interview is the complete lack of communication from Israeli government officials. Moti testifies that no official has contacted him, neither by text message nor by phone, and that he has relied solely on media reports. According to him, the embassy in Dubai is closed and the ambassador and his staff have returned to Israel, leaving stranded Israelis with no address to turn to. He notes that organized groups may receive assistance from their tour companies, but an individual like him is left to face reality alone. When asked if he believes the state is thinking about him, his answer was firm and painful: He does not believe that the state cares about him or is interested in his situation, and that he understands that he must rely solely on himself and his private resources to survive this period safely.
Daily routine between shopping and following the news
Moti describes a routine that combines physical comfort with constant mental stress. He sleeps in four-star hotels, which offer particularly cheap prices due to the Ramadan period, and gets around the city using public transportation. His average day includes breakfast, swimming in the pool, and conversations with his family, but most of the time is devoted to obsessively following the news on Al-Jazeera channels 11 and 13. He spends hours in shopping malls to pass the time and buys gifts for his children at low prices, but admits that his head is always in Israel. Despite the seemingly good conditions, he emphasizes that he does not really enjoy himself; he feels the effects of the extended stay on his body and mind, eats less due to the lack of sufficient physical activity, and waits for the moment when he can exchange the luxurious hotel bed for the familiar and comfortable bed in his home in Zippori.
The longing for family and the message to decision-makers
Moti's intense longings focus on the small, meaningful details of life: the sea, coffee at the neighborhood cafe, and the ability to talk to friends in Hebrew. The greatest pain stems from the distance from his family; his granddaughter, who was born not long ago, has grown up without him, and he is forced to celebrate his and his grandson's birthdays via WhatsApp. It is a "sucking" situation, as he puts it, in which moments that will never come back are lost because of distance. In the interview, he delivers a direct and sharp message to decision-makers in Jerusalem: they must ensure reasonably priced flights that can bring all Israelis home as quickly as possible. For him, the first thing he will do upon landing in Israel will simply be to get home and go for a walk with his dogs, since for him, home has been and remains the central anchor in his life, a place that no luxurious mall in Dubai can replace.
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