Israeli Transport Ministry Admits Reliance on Foreign Airlines' Declarations
Translated & summarized from Haaretz by baba
Israel's Ministry of Transport admits it relies on foreign airlines' statements for pilot vetting, not its own checks. The ministry stated it cannot guarantee against future incidents and has only reiterated guidelines to airlines.
The story in 4 lines · by baba
- Transport Ministry relies on foreign airlines for pilot checks.
- Ministry admits it cannot guarantee against future incidents.
- No new measures taken beyond clarifying airline instructions.
- Officials confirmed no pilot names were received.
The Israeli Ministry of Transport has admitted that its Security Department relies solely on declarations from foreign airlines and does not conduct its own checks on pilots entering the country. This admission follows sharp criticism regarding the ministry's responsibility for vetting pilots. Tamir Uri, Head of the Security Department, stated that there is "no 100% certainty that it will not happen again," referring to a recent incident. Since that event, the ministry has not taken new measures beyond "clarifying instructions to foreign airlines."
Ministry officials made these statements during a late-night conference call with journalists, four days after an attempted attack. During the call, which began at 11:00 PM on Saturday, officials confirmed they had not received specific names of pilots. The ministry had previously refused to answer questions about the matter.
