Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Monday that Israel is working on an operation to return the more than 100,000 Israelis stranded abroad since Israel began attacking Iran on Friday, but that it will take time to do so.

The welcome news of a plan to assist those stranded abroad was marred for some, however, after Regev suggested that instead of people worrying about how to get home, they should just relax and enjoy their extended vacation.

Israel’s airspace has been closed since the start of the conflict with Iran early Friday, and the country’s flag carrier, El Al, has canceled all flights through June 17, with dozens more canceled through June 23, to allow the airline to divert planes for the operation to return the Israelis stranded abroad.

“We are readying rescue flights to bring Israelis back home,” Regev said in a Monday briefing on the matter. “We will be doing this in a very organized manner in coordination with the Defense Ministry.”

Regev, during the briefing, said she understood the “distress” that people are in as they try to make their way back, but stressed that Israel is “on the fourth day of a difficult war, and of the heavy price that the home front is paying.”

“We won’t take a risk and have an incident on the ground in which we have to explain how we allowed the plane to land on the ground with more than 300 dead,” she said, expressing worry that planes flying Israelis back home could be targeted by Iran while on the tarmac.

In order to minimize the potential for harm, Regev said, the operation would be carried out “in a phased, planned manner” and pointed out that the Transportation Ministry “said it would take time and that it wouldn’t happen overnight.”

“To the citizens, I tell you: There is nothing to be stressed about,” said Regev, adding, “You’re abroad, enjoy yourself.

“I know it’s not easy,” she added. “I ask people to be patient.”

Her suggestion that people “enjoy” being stuck abroad drew outrage from members of the public and opposition lawmakers.

“Minister Regev, an elderly woman waiting for surgery; a young woman whose husband died in the war traveled for a few days and left a 4-year-old child in Israel; these are just two cases out of thousands of stories of people who need to return home,” National Unity chair Benny Gantz fumed in a post on X.

“Your job and that of the government is not to tell them what to do but to get them home safely,” he reminded her.

MK Naama Lazimi of The Democrats similarly chided Regev, calling her remarks an “updated version of ‘if they have no bread, let them eat cake.'”

As airlines prepare for the task ahead, Regev said talks were taking place with cruise provider Mano Maritime to organize ships from Cyprus that could bring Israelis back as well.

Once the operation gets underway, Israelis seeking to return home will be required to make their way to yet unannounced cities, from which they will be able to catch flights home.

“Once Israeli airlines get slots from the authorities, they will be updating their customers where flights will leave from and when,” she said, adding that the departures would most likely take place from areas where Israelis are already concentrated: Thailand, Larnaca in Cyprus, Athens in Greece, Italy, and the US.

But even as tens of thousands of Israelis prepare to return to Israel, those seeking to leave the country will not be packing their suitcases just yet, as Regev said only non-citizens would be allowed to leave the country at this stage.

“We will not approve Israelis’ departures abroad at this stage,” said the minister. Those currently leaving for abroad are the people who came to visit the country — diplomats, tourists, and the like.”

Several countries have said they will assist with the evacuation of their citizens from Israel, even though Ben Gurion Airport has yet to reopen.

Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Monday that Portugal and Slovakia had asked for assistance with returning their citizens from Israel via Cyprus, which also acted as a transfer point for evacuees following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel.

Poland, meanwhile, announced that over the next two days, it will be evacuating some 200 of its citizens out of Israel via neighboring Jordan.

There will be a bus convoy to Amman, the Jordanian capital, where evacuees — tourists and short-term visitors — will board a government plane to return home, said Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys.

“Poland will be the first country to organize such an evacuation,” Mościcka-Dendys said, emphasizing the move is precautionary and aims to avoid escalating tensions. No military escort is planned.

Russia has also advised its citizens to leave Israel if possible, and Russia’s Ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, said they could independently cross the border into Egypt and from there catch commercial flights home.

He said a wider, state-organized evacuation could be carried out “if necessary.”

Agencies contributed to this report.