Israel 'in the dark' over flydubai terror hijacker investigation as Mossad probes link to Iran

"There is no information that can rule out or confirm an Iranian connection to or involvement with" Omani terrorist co-pilot Hamam al-Hamami, an Israeli official said.

The Mossad is in direct contact with its counterparts in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but even information transferred to Israel has not made it possible to determine clearly whether Omani terrorist pilot Hamam al-Hamami is concealing sensitive information, Walla learned on Monday.

“At this stage, we are in the dark,” an official familiar with the matter said. “There is no information that can rule out or confirm an Iranian connection to or involvement with the co-pilot. At this stage, the defense establishment assesses that he acted alone.”

The Mossad, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and IDF Military Intelligence are currently working to gather information on the case in an effort to build a complete picture surrounding the terrorist pilot and examine the potential existence of other pilots with a similar profile.

At the same time, authorities are examining the security lapses that allowed a pilot with Omani citizenship, who had undergone a process of radicalization and changed jobs several times over short periods, to nevertheless make his way to Israel aboard a plane from the United Arab Emirates carrying Israeli passengers, with the intention of crashing it and killing additional civilians on the ground.

Criticism has continued within the defense establishment, particularly among IDF officials, over the fact that responsibility has still not been assigned for the serious security failure, which could have ended in a national disaster and triggered a chain of actions that would have led to regional escalation.

IDF calls for government responsibility as intelligence screening plan takes shape

The IDF maintains that responsibility for the issue must rest with a government ministry.

The defense establishment has already begun developing the view that the intelligence community should establish a framework that would, in the future, be responsible for reviewing lists of pilots, flight attendants, and passengers traveling to Israel.

Defense officials praised Mossad chief Roman Gofman for taking a clear position on the issue and adopting a broad approach to responsibility. This comes alongside additional processes to reorganize the Mossad's work across various arenas, deepen cooperation, and plan offensive operations.

Gofman also believes that ties with the IDF in general, and with the General Staff in particular, should be strengthened and expanded.