Questions about money wrapped up in flights from Israel to Florida

Millions of your dollars are being used on one group to help get Floridians out of Israel and back home. Weeks ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the state to bring Floridians home.

WINK News was the only station in Tampa when the first Florida flight from Israel landed. Since then, dozens of families have been reunited. But there are still questions about specifically where the money is going.

State officials have offered little information about who’s involved in helping Americans leave Israel amid the war with Hamas besides identifying Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based nonprofit rescue group founded by ex-military personnel helping to run the mission.

Some reports say emergency management officials have authorized nearly $50 million in taxpayer dollars to one contractor for open-ended charter flights since DeSantis ordered the state to bring Floridians home from Israel.

“It’s an extraordinary sum of money,” said Michael Barfield, the director of public access initiatives for the Florida Center for Government Accountability. “I know there have been some problems with the flights themselves, people being stuck in Cyprus, but more importantly, I know that there hasn’t been a lot of transparency on this from the governor’s office.”

WINK News contacted the Florida Department of Emergency Management, and they said the number is closer to $19 million taxpayer dollars, and it continues to be refined as invoices come in.

“What other options were considered? Commercial flights, which would have been a lot cheaper, where they consider where the best deals negotiated,” asked Barfield.

Barfield said state officials have offered little information about who is involved in helping Americans leave Israel amid the war with Hamas.

“This is where access to public records in Florida informs the citizens and taxpayers who are funding this, what they’re spending their money on, who’s getting it, how it’s being spent,” said Barfield.

It’s unclear if all the money is going to the Israel evacuation or DeSantis’ controversial migrant flights.

“Well, that’s another question that we don’t know the answer to without access to these records,” said Barfield.

The governor’s office said Tuesday that the state has flown close to 700 Americans home. About 40 of the 270 passengers on the first flight from Tel Aviv to Tampa on Oct. 15 were Floridians.

This week, Collier County leaders approved providing law enforcement with extra resources to keep people, schools and places of worship safe against terrorism due to the Israel-Hamas war. A resolution was passed unanimously by the Collier County Commission.