Security Lapses in Commercial Flights Expose Israel to Risk
Translated & summarized from Behadrei Haredim by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Commercial flights lack rigorous security checks applied to private aviation.
- A 2020 document shows Flydubai's unverified commitment to Israeli flight restrictions.
- Previous warnings from 2018 and a state comptroller's report went unaddressed.
- Officials admit the security center lacks intelligence to vet foreign crews.
- An expert warns of potential security risks, including deliberate crashes.
Following an attempted attack on a Flydubai flight, a significant gap in the security checks conducted by the Ministry of Transportation's Aviation Security Operations Center (ASOC) has been revealed. While private flights undergo rigorous vetting, including passport and employment history verification that can bar foreign businesspeople and pilots from entering Israel, commercial flights lack similar oversight. The ASOC relies on general reviews of foreign airlines' procedures and their self-declarations.
A 2020 document obtained by Ynet shows that Flydubai committed in writing to adhere to nationality restrictions for flights to Israel. However, the identities of arriving crew members were never verified. In contrast, private flights face stringent checks, with companies required to submit pilot employment histories and passport details three days in advance. Previously, a Jewish billionaire businessman was denied entry for a Bar Mitzvah because he arrived on a commercial flight, and an American pilot was barred from arriving on a private plane due to a past visit to Iraq.
Warnings about these security deficiencies have been issued for years. In 2018, the Ministry of Transportation's Security Department alerted the National Security Council to uncertainties regarding the identities of pilots from Egypt and Jordan, but a request for additional staff was denied. A state comptroller's report two years ago also failed to prompt corrective actions.
Ministry of Transportation officials acknowledged during a briefing that the ASOC lacks the intelligence capabilities to verify the backgrounds of foreign crews. Tamir Uri, Deputy Director of the Security Department, admitted that the system has no certainty regarding pilots arriving from hostile countries. Shmuel Zakai, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority, stated that the possibility of the airline breaching its commitments would be examined.
Aviation expert Yossi Fisher warned that the current lapse is just the tip of the iceberg, noting that Arab airlines regularly transit Israeli airspace without any Israeli inspection of their occupants. Fisher cautioned that a pilot could potentially "go crazy" and crash their plane into the Gush Dan area.
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