By ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
The US embassy in Jerusalem announced on Friday it was allowing non-emergency government personnel and family members to leave Israel ‘due to safety risks.’
The announcement follows repeated threats from President Donald Trump to strike Iran, and with the United States conducting its biggest military build-up in the region in decades.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is expected to arrive off the coast of northern Israel on Friday as part of the build-up.
‘On February 27, 2026, the Department of State authorized the departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members of US government personnel from Mission Israel due to safety risks,’ the embassy said on its website.
‘Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,’ it added.
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee sent an email to embassy staff on Friday morning saying that those wishing to leave ‘should do do TODAY’, the New York Times reports.
‘Focus on getting a seat to anyplace from which you can then continue travel to DC, but the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of country,’ he was quoted as writing.
Trump, who ordered strikes on Iran last year, has repeatedly threatened Tehran with fresh military action if it does not cut a deal with the United States.