Netanyahu Orders Aviation Security Review After Flydubai Incident

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a comprehensive review of aviation security procedures for foreign flights entering Israel, following a "terrifying journey" incident involving a Flydubai flight. Netanyahu directed the Head of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint an investigator to examine all aspects of civil aviation security.

Tamir Uri, head of the security department at the Ministry of Transport, stated that his department does not receive or vet pilot names, relying instead on airlines' assurances that pilots have undergone security checks, in line with international regulations. He acknowledged that the department is not an intelligence agency and depends on the airlines and competent authorities in the country of origin. Uri could not provide information on how many pilots from hostile countries had entered Israel.

Additional disturbing details about the incident emerged from an Italian newspaper investigation. The reports indicate that the first officer, identified as an Omani terrorist, attempted to kill the captain with an axe and disable the engines, intending to crash the plane into a Tel Aviv skyscraper. The investigation suggests the pilot had been dismissed from Oman Air and Air Arabia Maroc for extremist views.

Further intelligence suggests the individual obtained an Australian student visa in 2014 and resided and studied there until 2017. The plot reportedly involved killing the Indian captain with an axe found in the cockpit, preventing the captain from reporting issues, and proceeding to Tel Aviv without air traffic control awareness, thereby minimizing the time for Israeli Air Force jets to intercept.

Opposition figures reacted with anger. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett drew a "direct line" between the aviation incident and the October 7th Hamas attacks, demanding answers on whether Iranian pilots had recently entered Israel and what measures the government is taking to prevent future failures. MK Naama Lazimi has formally requested an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the security lapses that endangered 174 passengers, including 27 children, and called for immediate solutions to the revealed security gaps.