This number takes on an entirely different meaning after the attempted hijacking: More than 1,200 airline crew members from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel have entered the country since the beginning of the year – including crew from Syria, Lebanon and Oman.
The figure, reported Tuesday by Kan News, emerged days after the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv – and particularly after it was revealed that the Omani pilot at the center of the affair had previously raised concerns in his home country.
Imam Al-Hamami was not a pilot who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. According to reports, authorities in Oman had already noticed his online activity and concluded that he was showing excessive interest in radical ideology. The concern was serious enough that he was not allowed to continue working as a pilot for the national carrier, Oman Air.
He was sent to an anti-extremism program and transferred to an office position. But according to a Wall Street Journal report, the chain of information was broken at that point: the concerns about him were not passed on to the relevant authorities. Al-Hamami was subsequently hired by Flydubai. According to the published details, the airline did not contact Omani authorities to investigate his background and instead relied on a criminal-record check.
Sources familiar with the matter said he had already flown to Israel several times. Only after the attempted hijacking did the full picture begin to emerge. According to Reuters, Al-Hamami told investigators in the UAE that he had planned the attack before being hired by the airline.
UAE authorities are now investigating Flydubai officials involved in hiring him, while authorities in Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem are seeking to determine whether signs of his radicalization first emerged while he was living in Australia.
In Israel, meanwhile, questions are being raised over who was responsible for identifying the potential threat. Transportation Minister Miri Regev said over the weekend that responsibility for screening intelligence and vetting foreign flight crews does not lie with her ministry, but with security authorities.
The Wall Street Journal, however, has also attributed failures to Israeli authorities and the Transportation Ministry over the screening of foreign airline crews entering Israel.
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