Club Med opens its doors to stranded Israelis

Israelis are one of the only people around the world who rush home during a time of war rather than rushing away. So it makes sense that those who found themselves stranded abroad during the latest war with Iran scrambled to find flights as quickly as they could. But with airspace closed and flights cancelled, thousands of Israeli travellers found themselves still stuck.

For those holidaying at Club Med resorts, though, there was at least one piece of good news: they wouldn’t be footing the bill while they waited.

Club Med has decided to allow Israeli guests whose homeward flights have been cancelled to stay on at its resorts, at no extra cost, until they can find a replacement flight. That means an extended all-inclusive, five-star stay thrown in gratis. Many Israelis are currently staying at Club Med properties in Phuket in Thailand, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.

It’s a generous gesture. But given the chain’s deeply Jewish roots, perhaps not entirely surprising.

Club Med had its beginnings when Gérard Blitz, a Belgian-Jewish water polo player, came up with the idea of providing Europeans with inexpensive, bohemian vacations in the Mediterranean sunshine. In 1950, Blitz officially founded the Club Méditerranée association. He had served with the Belgian Resistance and after the war was employed running a centre for helping concentration camp survivors readjust and reestablish themselves.