Netanyahu orders security review of flights to Israel after Flydubai attack

Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a security review of international flights to Israel on Sunday, after an attempt by an Omani co-pilot to crash an Israel-bound plane from Dubai.

Netanyahu “has instructed the head of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint an examiner to conduct a thorough review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel,” a statement from the premier’s office said.

Calls have mounted in Israel for an investigation into the security lapse that allowed the Omani co-pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday to attempt to bring down the aircraft after stabbing the Indian captain.

Israeli media has reported that the co-pilot intended to crash the aircraft on Israeli territory.

Critics have focused on how a pilot from a country with no diplomatic relations with Israel was cleared to operate a flight bound for Tel Aviv.

Transport Minister Miri Regev rejected responsibility for the failure, saying security oversight for flights operated by foreign airlines falls under the remit of the Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.

A 2024 report by the state comptroller found there was no clear division of responsibility for the security of foreign airlines operating in Israel, and recommended that the government address the issue.

Israeli media outlets have reported that pilots from countries hostile to Israel have repeatedly flown into the country in recent years.

Keren Terner, who previously served as director-general of the transport ministry and is now running for parliament for the opposition, blamed Regev for the security failure, noting that the Civil Aviation Authority was under the “direct subordination” of her ministry.

“You are responsible for the security of foreign companies. Not the Shin Bet, not Mossad. You. That’s what the government decided, and that’s what the law stipulates,” Terner wrote on X.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed Netanyahu’s announcement of a security review as a “sham investigation.”

“The chain of failures that preceded the incident could have led to a disaster of historic proportions, and this is how an Israeli prime minister responds?” Lapid wrote on X.

“Just as Netanyahu escaped an investigation into the Oct. 7 massacre, he is now running away again,” he added, referring to a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Gadi Eisenkot, a leading challenger to Netanyahu ahead of an election on Oct. 27, wrote on X that “in a proper and functioning government, the minister of transportation would have submitted a letter of resignation last night.”