Major Security Flaw Allowed Enemy Pilots to Land in Israel

A significant security lapse has been exposed, allowing pilots from enemy states to land in Israel, following an attempted terror attack on a Flydubai flight. The incident revealed that while information on foreign flight crews is transferred to Israel, the mechanism intended to vet them has completely failed. The Ministry of Transportation, responsible for foreign aviation security, claims it lacks intelligence capabilities and deflects responsibility to the Mossad, which also did not review the crew lists.

Former officials described the situation as a "major systemic failure with enormous implications." Dani Shenar, who established the Transportation Ministry's security department, stated that while all foreign flight crew members were vetted during his tenure until 2017, the mechanism has since deteriorated, with reduced cooperation from the security establishment. He criticized the current reliance on foreign companies' self-reporting, a practice that did not exist previously.

Yitzhak Raz, former head of the Civil Aviation Authority, echoed these concerns, suggesting a "sloppy" approach where authorities became overly reliant on foreign airline reports. He noted that while good relations with countries like the UAE are important, trust should not replace thorough vetting.

Shenar estimates that fully closing this security gap, which involves vetting tens of thousands of pilots from dozens of airlines, will take weeks. He also pointed out that the Transportation Ministry's security department is understaffed for such a task and that responsibility for aviation security is currently fragmented among multiple agencies instead of being consolidated.

Shenar had previously warned about the "internal threat" in aviation security, where individuals with access to sensitive systems could exploit them. Despite the Ministry of Transportation's formal responsibility for approving foreign airlines and vetting flights, the ministry claims it lacks the intelligence capabilities for background checks and relies on airline declarations. The Shin Bet and Mossad are expected to provide intelligence capabilities, but the overall coordination is supposed to be handled by the Transportation Ministry.

Even though the Mossad did not review the flight crew list, the necessary information was already in Israel. Since 2023, airlines are mandated to provide passenger and crew data, including nationality, to Israel's National Passenger Data Vetting Center. The Ministry of Transportation can request assessments from this center, and intelligence agencies have access. In the Flydubai case, the Tax Authority confirmed the list was received before the flight departed.

This division of responsibility is not new. A May 2024 State Comptroller report recommended a comprehensive review of international aviation security, including government and cabinet decisions from the 1970s. The Comptroller urged the National Security Council to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to define responsibilities and allocate resources for a holistic approach. Despite these recommendations, no significant changes have been implemented, with most findings kept classified for security reasons.