Jerusalem [Israel], October 13: Some were on their honeymoon, others were studying abroad, many were building new lives in foreign countries. But when Israel called up its reservists and declared war this week, the response was swift and overwhelming.
Israel has called up 360,000 reservists in the wake of Saturday's assault by hundreds of Hamas gunmen who overran towns, kibbutzes and army bases near the Gaza enclave, killing more than 1,300 civilians and soldiers and wounding over 2,700.
Most reservists were already in Israel at the time of the call-up - the largest such compulsory mobilisation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. But many were out of the country, for a variety of reasons, and dropped everything to rush back.
Nimrod Nedan, a 23-year-old studying medicine in Lithuania, said friends and relatives died or were missing as a result of the surprise Hamas attack, spurring him to action.
L.K. - a 37-year-old reservist who served as an air force pilot for 13 years, and asked to be identified just by his initials for security reasons - felt exactly the same.
He works for a tech company in New York, and left his home, wife and children to hurry back to his squadron. "There is no other place in the world I would rather be. If I had to sit in my lovely apartment on the Upper West Side watching this I would never forgive myself," he said.
Military service is compulsory for the majority of Israelis when they turn 18. Men have to serve 32 months and women 24. After this, most of them can be called up to reserve units until the age of 40, or even older, in case of national emergency.
In times of war, they fight alongside the regular troops.
Yonatan Bunzel only finished his military service this year, making him exempt from immediate reserve duties, and like many Israelis just out of the army, he went travelling to celebrate his demobilisation.
He was in India when Hamas struck and despite not being obliged to return, Bunzel nonetheless packed his bags and headed home, five months ahead of schedule.
Reaching Tel Aviv was easier said than done. After flying to Dubai, Bunzel found there were no tickets available for Israel. However, a Jewish non-profit organisation, La'aretz, stepped in and secured seats for him and two of his friends.
Other Israelis recounted how their local consulates had provided free trips home, while U.S. media reported that people were going to the counters of Israeli airline El Al in New York and offering to buy tickets for anyone with call-up papers.
While many foreign carriers have cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Israeli airlines have added flights on foreign routes to bring people back, while the military dispatched transport planes to some European cities to collect soldiers.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation