Harvard student Edan Razinovsky spent the weekend agonizing over whether he should book a ticket to Tel Aviv, as the Israeli army was calling up reservists from around the country, including Razinovsky's former unit, for a possible ground invasion into Gaza. 

Razinovsky, 26, moved to the U.S. from Israel when he was a toddler, and voluntarily joined the Israeli army two years ago for an 18-month stint. He remains officially registered as a reservist although as a student living abroad he isn’t obligated to return.

“When you are in the army, you train for conflict and you are prepared, but to actually go in is somewhat surreal,” said Razinovsky. “My former commander left me a voice mail the other day, saying the unit had been called up, and I have been going back and forth as to whether I should go or not.”

Razinovsky isn’t the only American caught up in the chaos. Americans both inside and outside of Israel have had their lives turned upside down in the last week and a half, from reservists who have felt the need to return to Israel, to brides-to-be forced to alter wedding day plans. There are no official figures as to how many American Jews live in Israel, but around 2,000 Americans move to Israel every year.

In southern Israel, support grows for action in Gaza

Razinovsky is now waiting to see how the conflict develops, and feels strongly that if his unit needs him, he will fly over, even if it means sacrificing the semester at Harvard.

Last week, the Israeli Defense Forces called up around 31,000 reservists with authorization to mobilize up to 75,000. Anecdotal reports suggest that quite a few Americans who have served in the Israeli army have now returned to serve in the current conflict.

Daily life thrown
Avi Schwartz, who grew up in Silver Spring, Md., is used to juggling the off-again, on-again clashes, having lived in Israel for more than 10 years. But as the operator of a tour company, the current conflict has forced him to think of ways to reposition his business.

“About half of a women’s group we were expecting to come this week cancelled,” said Schwartz, 34, as an air raid siren went off in Jerusalem. “There are still groups that want to come despite the violence, and now we are trying to find and organize tours for those that want to show their support for Israel.”

When Debbie Shuval moved to Israel from Manhattan in August to attend business school, she didn’t count on having to explain a war to her three young kids.

Clinton heads to Mideast on peace mission, Hamas remains defiant

“The kids see soldiers all the time, and my 3-year-old son often tells me that when he’s big he will also go to the war,” said Shuval. “The most difficult part of this flare up has been hearing about friends who have been called up. It makes the conflict feel so much more real; living in Jerusalem, the relative quiet can give you a false sense of calm.”

A wedding to remember
While Razinovsky was busy staying in contact with his commanders, Pnina Weiss spent the weekend reorganizing her wedding with just a few days to go. Rockets raining down from Gaza into the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, where her wedding hall was located, had thrown her plans into disarray.

Fewer than four days later, and thanks to the generosity of friends, family and strangers, Weiss was able to rearrange her affair to take place in a hall 16 miles north of Tel Aviv, closer to her parents’ home in Raanana, where tree-lined streets are more reminiscent of Southern California than the Middle East.

She has yet to taste the food, and will be using centerpieces and decorations donated by a friend of a friend who is getting married the night before.

Despite the quick turnaround, Weiss’ wedding will be a smaller affair than originally planned. She had organized the wedding for Thanksgiving weekend to make it easy for friends and family in the U.S. to attend. At least 11 family members from America have cancelled with another 30 or so from Ashkelon also too nervous to travel on unprotected roads or to leave their kids alone.

“Putting off the wedding wasn’t an option,” said Weiss, who moved to Israel from Dallas when she was four. “I’m 34 and I’ve waited many years for this so what does the rest matter? I know on Thursday I’m getting married. It will definitely be a wedding that no one will forget.”

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Erin Conway-Smith/AP, file

Chimpanzees sit in an enclosure at the Chimp Eden rehabilitation center, near Nelspruit, South Africa in this Feb 2011 photo.

An American studying chimpanzee behavior in South Africa was “fighting for his life” after he was attacked by two of the animals, according to a report.

The chimpanzees dragged the man for more than a mile, under a fence and into their enclosure at Jane Goodall Institute Chimp Eden near Nelspruit, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

The paper said the victim of the attack had not been named. However, it said it understood he was a “young university student from the United States who had been observing the animals at the reserve for several weeks.”

Jeffrey Wicks, a spokesman for private ambulance firm Netcare911, told the Telegraph that witnesses said the man was leading a group of tourists when the attack happened.

"A ranger at a chimpanzee sanctuary near Nelspruit is fighting for his life after he was attacked by two frenzied animals while leading a tour group at the park this afternoon," he added. "According to eyewitnesses, two chimpanzees grabbed the man by his feet and pulled him under the perimeter fence and into the enclosure."

Armed escorts for paramedics
Paramedics needed armed escorts as they went in to treat the victim, NBC’s Rohit Kachroo reported. It was unclear whether this caused any delay.

The victim was stabilized at the scene and taken by ambulance to a private hospital in Nelspruit, NBC said. There have been no similar attacks at the reserve, which opened more than six years ago.

David Oosthuizen, Jane Goodall Institute executive director, confirmed the reserve was on lock down following the incident, The Telegraph said.

"We understand that the gentleman is stable and we really feel for him," he told the paper. "This has been very upsetting for everyone – it is just horrific. We are an organization that's respected worldwide for the work we do so anything like this is very bad."

Victim of chimpanzee attack shares progress, optimism

He added that some of the animals kept there had been abused before they were rescued and taken to the institute.

"These chimpanzees have six times the strength of a human being so you have to respect them and we certainly do," he said.

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Egypt on Wednesday lifted a travel ban on seven Americans being tried on charges that the pro-democracy groups they worked for fomented unrest with illegal foreign funding.

But according to an Egyptian lawyer representing one of the groups, the Americans and other foreign workers would only be allowed to travel after each defendant posts bail of 2 million Egyptian pounds (approximately $300,000 U.S.), NBC News Cairo Correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin reported.

Still, the shift could signal an end to the worst crisis in relations between Egypt and the U.S. in 30 years.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said Wednesday she expected the row over the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to be resolved "in the very near future," but said the U.S. does not have confirmation that the travel ban has been lifted.

"We do not have confirmation that the travel ban has been lifted. We hope that it will be, and we will continue to work toward that,'' Clinton told U.S. lawmakers. "The reporting is encouraging but we have no confirmation.''

U.S. officials have said $1.3 billion in annual military aid has been put at risk by the case.

Cairo court adjourns trial of NGO workers

It was not immediately clear when any of the activists involved would leave the country. Sixteen of the 43 people facing charges are Americans. Seven Americans are in Egypt and some of those have sought refuge in the U.S. embassy.

"The assistant to the attorney general, following a request from the investigating judges, has issued an order to lift the ban," a judicial source close to the proceedings told Reuters, adding the charges have not been dropped against any of those involved.

Judge Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the Cairo Appeals Court who appoints judges to the case, also confirmed to Reuters that a decision had been taken to lift the travel ban.

Asked for the nationalities of those affected by the decision, he said: "All of them are Americans."

The U.S. embassy had no immediate comment. The Egyptian military also had no comment on the case.

Clinton: Resolution likely 'in very near future'
"We believe we will resolve this issue concerning our NGOs in the very near future. That is my best assessment sitting here today," Clinton told U.S. lawmakers when asked about the case.

The NGO workers also include Egyptians, Serbs, Norwegians and Germans. They have been accused of receiving foreign funds without the approval of the Egyptian authorities.

The workers are also alleged to have carried out political activities unrelated to their work and accused of failing to obtain necessary operating licenses.

The NGOs say they have long sought to register in Egypt and describe the crackdown as part of a wave of repression against civil society by the generals who took power after President Hosni Mubarak's overthrow last year.

Washington ties with Cairo have been a cornerstone of its Middle East policy since Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel.

Two of the groups involved, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), are loosely affiliated with the major U.S. political parties and one of the accused, IRI Egypt Director Sam LaHood, is the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The first session of the court took place Sunday and was adjourned to April 26. That adjournment had raised hopes among activists' supporters that the case could be dropped to spare further damage to Egypt's ties with its ally.

A day before the decision to lift the travel ban, the Egyptian judge who had handled the trial resigned without giving any reasons.

Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News Cairo correspondent, as well as Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 1:03 p.m. ET: CAIRO -- NBC's Charlene Gubash reports the three former hostages, including two American women, were released to military officials and not police because police are mistrusted by the Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen.

The Governor of South Sinai has also invited the Americans for dinner, Gubash reports. Their itinerary includes Sharm, Cairo to visit pyramids and Alexandria.

Updated at 10:37 a.m. ET:  CAIRO -- South Sinai Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Naguib tells The Associated Press that he has sent a car to pick up the kidnapping Americans after the deal was made following negotiations with Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen.

The two American women and one guide were seized Friday from a minivan that was returning them from the monastery to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.  Naguib said earlier the kidnappers wanted the release of fellow tribesmen who were arrested but he isn't releasing details about the negotiations.

NBC's Charlene Gubash says the tourists were on a tour with Seed-Faith Foundation, described online as faith-based travel. 

Updated at 10:46 a.m. ET: Two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt on Friday have been released, local police tell NBC News.

Updated at 10 a.m. ET: Egyptian generals are negotiating with Bedouin tribesmen thought to have kidnapped two Americans and their guides near a popular Red Sea resort on Friday, NBC News' Charlene Gubash reports from Cairo.

The kidnappers are demanding the release of of 33 Bedouins detained last week, she says, adding that Egyptian police now know the whereabouts of the hostages.

Updated at 9:10 a.m. ET: The U.S. State Department said it was working to confirm the citizenship of the two tourists who were kidnapped along with their guide in Egypt on Friday.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo released the following statement to NBC News:

"Egyptian authorities have confirmed to us that two tourists, who they say are American citizens, have been kidnapped in Sinai. We are trying to confirm their citizenship and in the meantime are working closely with the Egyptian authorities to do everything possible to ensure the tourists' safety."

Updated at 7:10 a.m. ET: Two American tourists and their guide have been kidnapped near a popular Red Sea resort in Egypt, South Sinai's chief of police confirmed to NBC News Friday.

Egypt protesters besiege Cairo ministry

The news came just days after Bedouin tribesmen released about two dozen Chinese cement factory workers taken hostage in the country last week.

Egypt has faced deteriorating security and a surge in crime since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak nearly a year
ago. Protesters accuse the military council that has assumed power and the police force of negligence.

On Friday, the military and police officials told The Associated Press that abductors sped away in a sedan and a pickup truck after taking the Americans, leaving behind three other people who had been in the minivan. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, did not know the nationalities of those left behind.

The group had been traveling between St. Catherine's Monastery to the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Authorities said a search was under way.

Chinese abducted
On Saturday, 29 Chinese workers were captured by rebels in the Sudanese border state of South Kordofan. The 25 workers freed on Wednesday were in good condition, China's Xinhua news agency said, citing an embassy official there, Ma Jianchun.

Analysis: Egyptians share blame in soccer tragedy

Residents of Sinai say they are neglected by the central government in Cairo, and periodically attack police stations and block access to towns, villages and industrial sites to show their discontent.

The isolated desert region has become more lawless since an uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak a year ago and threw the security apparatus into disarray.

Original post: Two American tourists in Egypt have been kidnapped, South Sinai's chief of police confirmed to NBC News on Friday.

Five tourists were on their way from St. Catherine's Monastery to the very popular Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, the police told NBC News. He added that Bedouin tribesmen took two and an Egyptian guide and let the remaining three go with the car.

The two are most likely being held to exchange for release of prisoners and land the Bedouin tribe want, NBC reported. They may have also been kidnapped in revenge for a recent crackdown by police.

NBC News, msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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