Israel Investigates Pilots With Dual Citizenship After Flydubai Incident

Israeli authorities are investigating the possibility that pilots with dual citizenship, including that of countries considered hostile by Israel, may have landed at Ben Gurion Airport in recent years. This comes in the wake of an attempted hijacking aboard a Flydubai flight. The review is reportedly focusing on pilots holding Iranian, Syrian, or Iraqi citizenship alongside another nationality, amid concerns of similar cases to that of the co-pilot accused of attempting to seize control of the aircraft.

The co-pilot, Hammam Al-Hammami, had reportedly visited Israel prior to the flight during which the incident occurred, with his last landing at Ben Gurion Airport taking place a week before the flight. Israeli investigators are currently unable to directly question the suspect and are relying on information from Saudi and Emirati authorities, though this could change as the investigation progresses.

In its first briefing to journalists since the incident, the Israeli Ministry of Transport's security division stated that the ministry had not received a crew manifest beforehand. Officials explained that crew members undergo background checks by their airlines, and Israeli authorities depend on information provided by airlines and their countries of origin. The security division clarified that it is not an intelligence agency and does not conduct independent investigations into every foreign pilot arriving in Israel.

Shmuel Zakai, Director of the Israel Civil Aviation Authority, stated that Flydubai suspended its flights to Israel partly due to the authorities' decision to halt flights until the investigation concludes, aiming to ensure there are no further security gaps and that the incident involved only one suspect. The Ministry of Transport's security division acknowledged it cannot guarantee a similar incident will not recur, noting that full guarantees would effectively require halting all foreign air traffic to Israel.

Israel's security apparatus is considering the possibility of other pilots with extremist ideologies or security risks in foreign airlines, not just Flydubai. A search is underway, in cooperation with international bodies, to identify potential cases and scrutinize information on foreign flight crews who have landed in Israel over the past few years. Questions have also been raised about Israel's prior knowledge of the co-pilot's background, including a previous airline's decision to suspend him and a described shift in his religious views.

The incident has prompted a series of questions regarding the vetting process for foreign flight crews. Key points under examination include the lack of information reaching Israeli authorities about the co-pilot's prior suspension from work at an Omani airline, his previous landings in Israel, the Ministry of Transport's reliance on foreign airlines for background checks, and the absence of continuous, independent intelligence monitoring of all foreign pilots arriving in Israel. It is also being questioned whether the suspect had long-term plans for the hijacking attempt and why no indicators were apparent in the available information.