Israel’s Transportation Ministry has said it does not vet pilots who fly into the country and that such flights are not “100 per cent” safe, a statement that came amid a probe into an Omani co-pilot stabbing the captain of an Tel Aviv-bound flight this week.
Oman, which has not signed the Abraham Accords — a pact to normalise ties between Israel and Arab countries — does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel. An Indian captain, Smit Machchhar , was seriously injured after the co-pilot, identified as Hamam al-Hammami from Oman, stabbed him with an axe during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE in 2020, bar pilots from flying into Israel if their home countries don’t formally recognise the Jewish state. A second pair of flydubai pilots aboard the flight — which was carrying over 170 passengers and crew — then landed the jet safely in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk.
“Those who are supposed to say what the threat level is, and whether you can travel to a given destination, are security officials,” she added. The figure emerged as part of the investigations into a “terrorist attack” on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, in which an Omani co-pilot attacked the captain while trying to take control of the aircraft.
