Mace flies to Israel, helps secure plane, and evacuates 155 Americans, including 11 infants, to Greece

Rep. Nancy Mace traveled to Israel around March 8, 2026, after a stranded South Carolina constituent family asked for her help. Embedding with the veteran-led nonprofit Grey Bull Rescue, she helped secure a DHS/State Department-chartered plane. On March 12 she announced that 155 Americans, including 11 infants, had been flown out to Greece.

March 12, 2026

Fox News and Live 5 News reported on March 12, 2026, that Rep. Nancy Mace had helped evacuate 155 Americans from Israel during the 2026 Israel, Iran war.

Mace departed for Israel around March 8 after a stranded South Carolina constituent family reached out for help. She embedded with Grey Bull Rescue, the Tampa-based veteran-led nonprofit whose founder and CEO is Bryan Stern. The mission became Grey Bull's 808th. When the organization had people ready to leave but no aircraft, Mace moved to secure one, ultimately helping coordinate a DHS/State Department-chartered plane that flew the evacuees, including 11 infants, out of Israel to Greece.

In her own words:

"They had the people but didn't have the plane. I jumped in to assist."

"When your people are stranded in a war zone getting hit with missiles and rockets, the only answer worthy of the office, worthy of our state, worthy of our country, is to get them out."

Stern described her role in terms that left little ambiguity:

"Congresswoman Mace was fully embedded with our team, not to watch, but to work to save lives."

Mace posted to X on the morning of March 12:

I left Israel last night on a flight full of Americans.
Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) March 12, 2026

Mace's public X post on March 12, 2026, captured from its public URL.

She also described the personal toll of the trip in a press release:

"I have not slept. Not eaten much. And seen things. I am eternally grateful for every exhausting, humbling moment of it."

Source: Fox News · Live 5 News · The Hill · mace.house.gov press release · nancymace.org

Mace returns from a second Middle East trip with a 2,000-name manifest; separately, a mother publicly accuses Grey Bull Rescue of demanding $1M before returning her daughter

Around March 19-20, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace completed a second evacuation trip, helping a South Carolina mother and her four sons travel out of Israel through Jordan. Mace said she held a manifest of over 2,000 stranded Americans. Separately, according to reporting attributed to Jewish Rhode Island and the Jerusalem Post, Dr. Lauren Hofstatter publicly accused Grey Bull Rescue, the nonprofit Mace embedded with, of demanding that approximately $1 million be raised before returning her daughter from Jordan. Grey Bull founder Bryan Stern denied the accusation. Mace defended the organization. The accusation is unadjudicated and is denied.

March 18, 2026 · Dispatch

Anonymous White House officials blast Mace's Israel rescue missions as 'political gain'; Mace says she kept State informed throughout

The Guardian reported on March 18, 2026, picked up by Raw Story and WTOC, that unnamed Trump White House and State Department officials were furious at Rep. Nancy Mace over her two evacuation trips to Israel. The anonymous officials alleged she contacted the Saudi government without notifying State, asked the administration to requisition a Saudi plane for ~300 people, and urged Americans toward Jordan without secured onward travel. Mace's office said she kept State informed and that State approved the DHS plane. The dispute is unresolved and every government critic spoke anonymously.

March 20, 2026 · Dispatch

Nancy Mace Returns From Second Middle East Trip Focused on Evacuations

WTOC reports on Rep. Nancy Mace's return from a second evacuation mission to the Middle East, where she worked to help a South Carolina family and others escape the conflict zone.

March 18, 2026 · Dispatch

White House 'Seething' Over Nancy Mace's Unsanctioned Middle East Rescue Missions

Raw Story reports (citing The Guardian) that anonymous White House officials were reportedly 'seething' over Mace's independent Middle East rescue operations and her direct outreach to Saudi Arabia without State Department coordination, accusing her of attempting to exploit the evacuation situation for political gain.

March 12, 2026 · Dispatch

Nancy Mace Leads American Rescue Effort in Israel Amid Iran War

The Daily Signal reports on Rep. Nancy Mace's role in coordinating the evacuation of 155 Americans stranded in Israel during the Iran conflict, working alongside the veteran-led nonprofit Grey Bull Rescue.