Miri Regev - Tel Aviv Apartment

By David Nataf — October 7, 2026

The Omani co-pilot’s passport details reached an Israeli database before takeoff. No agency checked them. A closed Knesset hearing now reportedly shows he was one of about 1,240 aircrew from countries without diplomatic ties to Israel who entered the country. Israel, the target of the attack, is now moving to close the gap.

A week after the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 attacked his captain on the way from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel’s main question is why nobody on the ground stopped him from boarding.

What happened on FZ1073

According to Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, a preliminary investigation found that “the pilot was assaulted by his co-pilot, resulting in various injuries to both.” The Boeing 737 MAX diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk. It landed safely at 9:45 a.m. local time with 174 passengers and eight crew on board.

On October 3, UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said investigators had found that the co-pilot “attempted to carry out a terrorist attack.” In a statement carried by the state news agency WAM, he said the co-pilot struck Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, with the cockpit crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft. Reuters, the Associated Press and the BBC have named the co-pilot as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. UAE authorities have not confirmed his identity.

The plane was saved in the cabin. Although badly wounded, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers, almost all of them Israelis, rushed in and overpowered the attacker, according to the Times of Israel and the BBC. Flydubai says an “on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight” then diverted the aircraft and landed it.

A rule that existed only on paper

Under its agreement to operate in Israel, flydubai was required to staff Israel-bound flights only with pilots from countries that have relations with Israel, the Jerusalem Post and Ynet report. Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

But Israel had the information it needed. A 2023 law requires every airline flying to Israel to send passenger and crew data in advance, including names, citizenship and passport details. The data goes to the National Passenger Data Analysis Center, which operates under the Israel Tax Authority. The Tax Authority has confirmed that the center received the full FZ1073 list, including the crew, before the flight, Globes and Ynet report.

Nobody acted on it. According to several senior officials quoted by Ynet, the Transportation Ministry’s security division had not retrieved crew data on foreign flights for about two years. Citing the Wall Street Journal, Walla reported that the ministry had never requested the lists at all.

Each agency now says the job belonged to someone else. Transportation Minister Miri Regev told Kan that the Mossad is responsible for foreign carriers and that the list “was not transferred to us.” Her ministry’s security division says it is “not an intelligence agency.” Ynet reports that the Mossad also says it did not receive the list. A security official told Walla that the Mossad does not screen crew lists on every foreign flight. Asked how many pilots from hostile countries had landed in Israel, the Civil Aviation Authority told reporters: “We estimate there were none. But we have no certainty.”

Help had been offered. Army Radio reported on October 6, citing three sources and as relayed by the Times of Israel, that in 2025 the ministry turned down a proposal by the Shin Bet and the National Security Council to place a Shin Bet official inside it to help assess the risks of foreign flights. According to the same report, the ministry received extra funding and 10 new positions for its security division in the 2026 budget but has not filled them. The ministry says it asked for more funding and has yet to receive it from the Finance Ministry.

1,240 crew members

That uncertainty now has a number. On October 6, the Knesset’s Subcommittee for Intelligence and Secret Services met behind closed doors. The subcommittee belongs to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and is chaired by MK Boaz Bismuth. According to i24NEWS, Ynet and Channel 14, as relayed by Strana.co.il, members were told that about 1,240 aircrew from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel had entered the country. The group reportedly includes citizens of Oman, as well as Syria and Lebanon, which Israel classifies as enemy states. Kan and N12 reported a figure of “more than 1,200.”

The figure comes from a classified session and has not been published officially. Reports differ on the period it covers: “since the beginning of the year” (Channel 14, Kan), “over the past year” (Ynet, Times of Israel) or “in recent years” (i24NEWS). According to i24NEWS, the Transportation Ministry’s representative was “stunned” and did not know the numbers.

Holding a passport from such a country proves nothing about any individual. Still, an aviation security system is supposed to flag passport details like these before a flight takes off.

Bismuth wrote on X after the session: “The face of civil aviation in Israel will change from today.”

The fixes on the table

According to Ynet, the subcommittee asked the National Security Council to draw up, with the Mossad and the Shin Bet, a list of high-threat countries. Crew lists from those countries would be submitted 48 hours before flights to Israel for approval by the security services. In a letter to NSC head Samuel Benezra, Regev also proposed a 48-hour advance clearance for all passengers and crew on inbound flights. Ynet notes that the Transportation Ministry’s security division had raised some of these measures in an NSC-led forum before, and they were rejected.

Diplomacy continues alongside the reforms. Flydubai’s Israel flights remain suspended “at the request of the authorities,” the airline says. Channel 13 reported on October 6, as relayed by the Times of Israel, that flydubai has asked for permission to resume its Israel flights, saying its investigation was concluding and many employees had been fired; Regev has so far declined. Regev has met UAE Ambassador Mohamed Al Khaja, who said on X that they discussed “strengthening preparedness.” According to Ynet, the talks covered resuming flydubai service, and Regev demanded security arrangements for Israeli carriers in the UAE. JDN, as cited by Strana.co.il, reported that a joint Transportation Ministry and security delegation will travel to Dubai next week; Channel 13 reports that Transportation Ministry officials have been invited to tour Dubai next week.

The UAE has named the attack for what it is and is prosecuting it, a sign of the Abraham Accords’ strength. But Israel cannot hand its first line of defense to a foreign airline’s paperwork. When a law has already put a pilot’s passport in Israel’s database before takeoff, someone in Israel has to read it.

Frequently asked questions

What happened on flydubai flight FZ1073?

On September 30, 2026, the co-pilot of the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight struck Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft, according to UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, who said the co-pilot “attempted to carry out a terrorist attack.” Passengers, almost all of them Israelis, overpowered him, according to the Times of Israel and the BBC, and the plane landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Did Israel have the co-pilot’s details before takeoff?

Yes. Under a 2023 law, the full FZ1073 passenger and crew list, including passport details, reached the National Passenger Data Analysis Center before the flight, the Israel Tax Authority confirmed, according to Globes and Ynet. No agency acted on it.

How many aircrew from countries without ties to Israel have entered the country?

About 1,240, according to i24NEWS, Ynet and Channel 14, which reported on a closed session of a Knesset subcommittee on October 6. The figure has not been published officially, and reports differ on the period it covers.

What is Israel doing to close the gap?

According to Ynet, the Knesset subcommittee asked the National Security Council to draw up, with the Mossad and the Shin Bet, a list of high-threat countries whose crew lists would be submitted 48 hours before flights for approval. Transportation Minister Miri Regev has proposed a 48-hour advance clearance for all passengers and crew on inbound flights. Flydubai’s Israel flights remain suspended.

Tag: Miri Regev

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