Israel Orders Security Review of Foreign Aviation After Terror Flight Plot
Translated & summarized from i24NEWS by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Israel will conduct a full security review of foreign aviation.
- A pilot allegedly planned to crash a Flydubai plane into Tel Aviv.
- Israel's security vetting for foreign pilots was found to be insufficient.
- Opposition leaders are demanding urgent answers and action.
- The pilot had previously been dismissed for extremist views.
Following a foiled terror plot aboard a Flydubai flight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a comprehensive review of security measures for all foreign civil aviation entering Israel. Netanyahu instructed the head of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint an examiner to conduct the thorough examination.
Tamir Uri, from the Ministry of Transport's security department, admitted that the agency does not receive pilot names or conduct security or intelligence checks on them. Instead, they rely on airlines' declarations that pilots have passed security screenings, citing international regulations. Uri stated that his department is not an intelligence agency like the Shin Bet and depends on airlines and authorized authorities in the pilots' countries of origin, acknowledging that there are no absolute guarantees.
Further disturbing details about the plot emerged from an Italian newspaper report. The co-pilot, identified as an Omani pilot, allegedly turned off both engines, intended to murder the captain with an axe, and planned to crash the plane into a Tel Aviv skyscraper. Investigations into the incident are ongoing, with several regional countries, including Syria, expected to participate. Emirati investigators are reportedly seeking information from Arab and Gulf intelligence agencies.
New information suggests the pilot obtained an Australian student visa in 2014 and lived and studied there until 2017. Previously dismissed from Oman Air and Air Morocco due to extremist views, he allegedly planned to carry out the attack without giving Israeli fighter jets sufficient time to intercept the aircraft.
Opposition figures reacted with anger. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett drew a parallel between this incident and the October 7th attacks, demanding answers on whether Iranian pilots have recently flown into Israel and what measures are being taken to prevent future failures. MK Naama Lazimi has formally requested an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the foreign flight security lapses from the Attorney General, the heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the National Security Council.
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