Time’s a-wasting: The Florida Stands With Israel license plate needs to be registered to 3,000 vehicles in the next year or it will be discontinued by the state.
Only 581 cars and trucks had the plates as of Dec. 16, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The plates, which benefit Hatzalah South Florida, an emergency medical service, face an additional hurdle: They risk decommissioning if they hit 3,000 but then fall below the milestone for 12 straight months, according to state law.
A Boca Raton volunteer is working furiously to get Floridians to purchase the plates. Michael Ackerman has been trying to drum up support through special events, celebrity promotions, email campaigns and a website, floridastandswithisrael.org.
Ackerman’s son, Daniel, 35, an illustrator and graphic designer who now lives in Israel, won a contest to design the plate in 2020. The Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles department offers these contests in coordination with specialty plate initiating groups; the state department gets final approval.
Due to COVID-19 delays, the original deadline for Floridians to buy 3,000 pre-purchase vouchers for the plate, a state requirement, was extended from 2022 to 2024. Organizers achieved that goal in 2024, allowing for manufacturing to begin, but now have to make sure there are 3,000 officially registered Florida cars.
Ackerman said 813 drivers bought vouchers, and many bought several, allowing the final voucher count to reach 3,022. People who bought more than one can redeem them when they have to renew their plates.
He’s not sure why all 813 original purchasers have not yet redeemed their plates.
“Because the voucher purchase is relatively small ($35), some people may forget they bought them,” Ackerman said.
The state began distributing the plates, which have an orange blossom and orange in front of a Star of David, in early 2025. They’re part of Florida’s Specialty License Plates program, which offers money raised from the sale of the plates directly to more than 100 charities.
The plates are familiar to many drivers. The Endless Summer plate, which raises money to protect beaches, is on more than 143,000 cars, and is the most heavily ordered, according to the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Plates recognizing sea turtles, the University of Florida and Miami Heat basketball team are next in popularity.
The cost of a new plate is about $70, which includes the charitable donation and several registration and processing fees. Hatzalah gets $25 a year for each plate that is registered, Ackerman said.
Gil and Jessica Makhluf are seen with their Florida Stands with Israel plates on their vehicles in Boca Raton. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Boca Raton residents Gil and Jessica Makhluf ordered the Florida Stands With Israel plate for each of their cars shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.
Gil Makhluf, who was born in Israel and owns a landscaping company, said they saw the plate as a way to show support and increase awareness about the war. He has been seeing more of the plates on the road recently, he said, but rarely gets comments about it.
“It’s well-designed, but not in your face,” he said. “It’s very subtle.”
Angel Villanueva, of Lehigh Acres near Fort Myers, said he wishes more people noticed his Florida Stands With Israel plate. As an evangelical Christian, he said he feels a deep connection with the Holy Land and sees the plate as a way to publicize his foundational beliefs.
“You have to be bold,” said Villanueva, a Junior ROTC instructor for the Lee County School District. “We owe the Jewish people a debt.”
Villanueva said he is concerned about the deadline and has been trying to get Floridians to buy the plate, including working with a local Christian radio station to spread the word.
Some specialty plates in the state have been discontinued due to low sales figures. In 2024, several met their end, including:
Scouting Teaches Values
Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches
A State of Vision (for the visually impaired)
Keep Kids Drug Free
Special Olympics
In February 2025, a plate that supported Best Buddies International, with only 759 registrations, also got delisted.
People with discontinued plates can keep them for up to 10 years, but the annual $25 extra fee to raise funds is no longer collected, Ackerman said. He feels certain Florida Stands With Israel will become a long-term state plate.
“We are resolute and confident that the plate will meet the threshold and will not be decommissioned,” Ackerman said.
