CNN‘s Scott Jennings knew his trip to Israel would be harrowing. But the conservative political commentator was not quite expecting to be caught in the middle of a war between the country and Iran after Israel Defense Forces launched a series of drone and fighter jet strikes on Tehran, taking out the country’s military leadership, nuclear scientists and nuclear facilities.
Jennings, 47, had embarked on a trip to the region — his first — to tour major cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as well as kibbutz Nir Oz, where approximately one-quarter of its 400 residents were killed by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, as well as the site of the Nova music festival massacre, where 378 were killed.
“We started to get reports a couple of days ago that the U.S. was telling non-essential personnel to leave military bases and stay in place,” Jennings says as he shelters in place in a hotel in Tiberius, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. “At the same time, we were hearing that the U.S. was still intending to meet with Iran this weekend. It became clear about 3:00 a.m. yesterday.”
Jennings was awake, prepping for a remote interview on CNN, when his phone first pinged an emergency alert. “I stood out on the balcony in my hotel and watched,” he says. “In fact, I’m looking at a military jet fly overhead right now.”
A series of alerts of increasing severity followed: First, “stay alert,” followed by, “stay near a safe space” and, eventually, “evacuate to a safe area.” Occasionally, air raid sirens would pierce through the morning air.
Jennings had already had some practice prior to the war’s outbreak. In Jerusalem, during dinner, an alarm went off and the hotel guests were guided into a bomb shelter in the basement. “It was a very tiny room,” he says. “We crammed in there and waited. We waited about five minutes then went back upstairs and finished dinner.”
On Friday evening, as Iranian ballistic missiles rained down on Israel, the majority of which were intercepted by the country’s Iron Dome defense system, sirens wailed throughout Tiberius and hotel guests were ushered into a safe zone for about a half an hour. A Tel Aviv area hospital said it was treating 15 injured civilians from the Iranian response.
“Then they announced that the missile barrage was over. They have very good intelligence about when the missiles are in the air and how many minutes away it is,” says Jennings.
As of press time, Jennings was under orders not to leave his hotel, should they need to seek refuge in a bomb shelter. “So a few of us are out on the back sort of porch of this hotel right now. It’s a beautiful night. It’s kind of almost a full moon, and we’re sitting out here looking over the Sea of Galilee. I mean, it could not be more of a beautiful scene out here,” he observes.
Jennings has no idea how long he’ll have to stay at the hotel or when he’ll depart Israel. “Airspace is closed, airports are closed,” he says. “The thing we know the least about is how are we going to get out of here. We were supposed to leave tomorrow, but that doesn’t feel like it’s happening.”
Asked if he was aware of the presence of Caitlyn Jenner, in the country for Tel Aviv’s gay pride festivities and similarly stranded, Jennings said, “I saw that she was here — and then I saw that the Daily Mail sort of made it seem like we were here together. It was, ‘Scott Jennings and Caitlyn Jenner Stuck in Israel.’”
“We’re both stuck here,” he added with a chuckle. “But not together.”
