Netanyahu orders security review of international flights to Israel after flydubai attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed National Security Council head Shmuel Ben-Ezra on Sunday to appoint an overseer to conduct a thorough review of all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel, following the attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The review will not have any direct authority to issue policy changes, and will present insights into the failures that led to the flydubai incident, in which Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly tried to crash an aircraft carrying 174 passengers. The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia on 30 September.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the investigation a “sham” on X, pointing to a State Comptroller report that had warned of precisely these failings. The Transport Ministry’s Security and Cyber Division said its role does not include intelligence background checks on foreign pilots, while minister Miri Regev maintained that oversight sits with the Mossad and Shin Bet. Israel’s security cabinet has decided flydubai will not resume flights to Israel until the investigation is clarified.

Sources: Jerusalem Post · Arab News · Straits Times