U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga said his son was evacuated out of Israel earlier this month as the country waged war against the U.S.-designated terror group Hamas.
He got out with the help of a team affiliated with another congressman, Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, who also helped at least 96 other Americans flee by way of ground evacuation, Mills has said.
“When I told him my son was there, he said, ‘Don’t worry. I will get him,'” Huizenga said of Mills. “I told him, ‘Well, I’m trying to figure this out for safety levels.’ He said, ‘Bill, this is going sideways quickly. You need to get him out.'”
Adrian Huizenga, 24, was in his second semester as a master’s student in Jerusalem studying biblical history and geography when he woke up Oct. 7 to air raid sirens and a loud boom, which was the sound of the Iron Dome air-defense system intercepting incoming rockets, he said.
Adrian said he and his roommate exchanged nervous looks, trying to figure out what was going on. A text arrived from their school instructing them to shelter in place, as fear seeped in.
The sirens then continued on and off for days. Even though he was an hour away from the targeted areas, Adrian started to wonder about if and when he should try to leave before the conflict got more dangerous and other terror groups or countries potentially got involved, he said.
“I knew I wasn’t a target. … I felt pretty safe at the school. It was more of a concern about what happens if things go badly, and how will I get out? Or would that even be possible? It was starting to ask those questions and wondering how long lasting will it be here?” Adrian said in an interview.
“All we saw were further escalations — declarations of war and all of that. That’s what felt more unprecedented. Israel has been through a lot of violence, a lot of tension in its history, but that’s what made it kind of stand out this time than others.”
Adrian studies at a small American Christian university with fewer than 100 students, so the student body is primarily U.S. citizens, he said. Huizenga, his wife and youngest son had visited Adrian over Easter break in the spring, so he knew the layout and location well and said he felt better knowing how secure it was.
But by the week before last, a number of other students had departed already.
It was Thursday, Oct. 12, when Adrian decided to contact the U.S. Department of State, filling out the same crisis intake form that his father’s office was instructing his constituents to fill out who were also stranded in Israel.
But the State Department has been inundated with calls and requests for help from thousands of Americans trying to get out of Israel when U.S. airlines weren’t flying in and out of Israel’s main international airport, Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, due to the risk.
Huizenga spoke to the staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which he serves. That’s where he got the suggestion to contact Mills. The committee staffers said they’d had luck working with Mills’ group to get people home when they were stranded abroad, Huizenga said.
Mills, who was on the ground in Israel himself, was actively working with both large groups and individuals, some of whom had been trying to figure out a way home for days, Huizenga said. The group was helping to coordinate air flights and ground transportation at no cost, he said.
Adrian said Mills’ team picked him up at 10 a.m. that following Saturday to start his journey, which involved over 24 hours of travel. He and Huizenga aren’t not disclosing the route that Adrian took out of Israel, but said it was through a neighboring country.
“Whatever I needed, they were there, ready with resources to help. From the time that they got me, until I was getting dropped off and going inside to the airport to leave, they were there and making sure that I was safe,” Adrian said.
Eventually he made it to Dubai, from where he flew on to Chicago and then to Grand Rapids, where his parents picked him up around 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15.
“I held it all together until he got on the ground in Grand Rapids, and I gave him a big hug in the airport,” Huizenga said. “That’s when I finally felt like I let my guard down.”
Adrian also felt immense relief and gratitude to Mills and his team. He still hopes to return to Jerusalem and finish his last year of schooling for his degree. His university shifted classes online. He’s been in touch with classmates through group text chains, but he also can’t keep his mind off Israel, watching news about the conflict “like a hawk,” he said.
The whole episode “makes me really thankful to live in America,” Adrian said. “I think it’s really also admirable of people in Israel that they try and continue to live there, with some flying back to sign up for the military there.”
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