Transportation Ministry Responsible for Foreign Flight Crew Checks, Document Reveals

A recently revealed internal document indicates that Israel's Ministry of Transportation holds the legal authority and responsibility for vetting foreign flight crews, including pilots, entering the country. This revelation comes after an incident where an Omani national, from a country without diplomatic ties to Israel, was found to be a co-pilot on a flight to Tel Aviv. The document, issued by the Ministry of Transportation's senior director of emergency, security, information, and cyber affairs, Avri Cohen, states that according to the Aviation Law (Civil Aviation Security) of 1977, the ministry's security department is responsible for the security of flights entering Israel. This includes conducting assessments and on-site inspections at airports to ensure security procedures adequately address threats.

The directive, dated October 1, 2026, was issued one day after the attempted attack on the Flydubai flight. It explicitly mandates that airlines must verify that no flight crew member is a citizen or dual citizen of a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The ministry's security department is also required to cross-reference crew lists with restricted nationalities to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering Israeli airspace.

However, the article alleges that these checks have not been enforced for years. The Ministry of Transportation allegedly failed to conduct the required inspections at destination airports and did not demand cross-referencing of crew lists with restricted nationalities, leaving the screening of pilots to foreign airlines. This prolonged failure, the report suggests, allowed pilots from enemy states or countries without diplomatic ties to routinely fly to Israel, a situation that nearly resulted in disaster when the Omani national seized control of the aircraft. The intervention of Israeli passengers and other pilots on board prevented the crash.