Transportation Ministry Failed for 3 Years to Connect to Security Passenger Data System

New details have emerged regarding a significant lapse in the oversight of foreign airlines, revealing that the Tax Authority repeatedly requested the Ministry of Transportation to appoint an authorized official to access the Passenger Data Center (Mal'an) system. Despite these requests, made both in writing and verbally over a three-year period, the Ministry of Transportation failed to appoint such an official. The issue came to light following a classified discussion in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee concerning the Flydubai incident, after which the Ministry finally requested access to the system this week. The Passenger Data Center is a technological tool designed to provide authorized personnel with information on passengers and aircrews. Had the Ministry appointed an authorized individual and defined the appropriate parameters, the system could have alerted them to suspicious data, such as the nationality of passengers or crew from countries without diplomatic ties to Israel. However, the Tax Authority confirmed that these requests were made to the Ministry prior to the attempted attack on the Flydubai flight. The recent report clarifies a distinction made by the Ministry: while it has a representative on the Mal'an steering committee, this role is not equivalent to being an authorized recipient of data from the system. For three years, the Ministry had a representative on the committee but no one authorized to actually receive the data. Only after the classified committee discussion this week, which reviewed the Flydubai incident and security oversight of foreign airlines, did the Ministry of Transportation seek access. Even then, a further issue arose: the Ministry was informed that the system cannot currently provide nationality data for aircrews 48 hours before a flight, as required by law. Unlike passenger data, which is received in advance, crew data is only updated close to departure, potentially rendering it useless for pre-flight security checks. The Ministry of Transportation criticized this procedure and technological limitation, but the report indicates that the procedure for transmitting crew data close to departure was established previously with the Ministry's knowledge and approval. Representatives from the Tax Authority and Mal'an stated that the Ministry of Transportation was aware of the procedure and did not seek to change it, contradicting any implication that the Ministry only encountered this limitation after requesting access. This revelation adds to recent reports about gaps in the security oversight of foreign airlines. During the classified committee meeting, it was disclosed that over 1,200 aircrew members, including pilots from countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, entered Israel this year. Among them were citizens from Syria, Lebanon, and Oman. The Ministry of Transportation representative at the meeting expressed surprise at these figures and requested an investigation. It has now become clear that for years, the Ministry lacked the designated official who could access a system intended for early identification of suspicious data.