The Israel Police is planning to question two senior Transportation Ministry officials over security lapses that came to light following the failed hijacking of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv last month, according to Hebrew media reports on Monday.
The two officials were named as Avri Cohen, senior director of the ministry’s Emergency, Information Security and Cyber Division, and Dvir Rubinstein, who directs the Aviation Security Operations Center.
Cohen is suspected of working as a security officer without proper accreditation. Rubinstein is alleged to have had a conflict of interest for doing private consulting work for the very airlines he was tasked with overseeing, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Israel’s Transportation Ministry acknowledged last month that it had failed to vet international flight crews arriving in the country, and relied entirely on airlines to confirm their crews had passed background security checks.
The admission came after it emerged that the Omani co-pilot who attacked the captain in the cockpit had been allowed to fly the commercial route in violation of bilateral agreements which explicitly stipulate that flight crews must come from countries which maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
The ministry and the security establishment have faced harsh criticism for their failures in the wake of the foiled attack, which was prevented midair by the captain and passengers.
A month after the attack, flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai remain suspended amid disagreements over aviation security measures between Israeli and Emirati authorities.
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