Israel is bracing for a sweeping overhaul of aviation security following a security breach involving a Flydubai flight. The incident has exposed deep accountability gaps and prompted urgent government moves to tighten entry screening for foreign flight crews and charter operations.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev dispatched an urgent letter to National Security Council head Shmuel Ben-Ezra on Tuesday, laying out a series of stringent new protocols designed to plug vulnerabilities in the nation’s air border defense. The push comes in the wake of mounting scrutiny over how foreign airline staff from countries enter Israel unchecked.
The core of the proposed reform centers on instituting a “visa procedure” for all incoming international flights. Under the plan outlined by Regev, airlines would be required to submit comprehensive passenger and crew manifests to the Population and Immigration Authority 48 hours prior to departure.
Stricter Oversight for High-Risk Aviation Routes
For destinations carrying a higher security threat profile, such as Dubai, the screening process will involve deeper intelligence vetting. Carriers operating these routes must transmit passenger and crew details to the Transportation Ministry’s security division 48 hours in advance, which will then pass the data to the Mossad or the Shin Bet for formal clearance.
In addition to crew screening, Regev demanded that the Ministry of Finance immediately release long-strained funding and personnel allocations for Israeli charter airlines. Security standards for these chartered flights have recently drawn criticism for being relatively low. Regev noted that while the budget and staff additions were approved by the cabinet in December, the resources have yet to be transferred.
The timetable for implementation is notably compressed. Regev requested that the list of high-risk destinations be finalized, the reviewing agency between the Mossad and the Shin Bet designated, and instructions dispatched to all airlines. Officials are pressing to operationalize the new security measures as early as this coming Sunday.
Accountability Gaps and the Passenger Data Database
The scramble to secure arrivals follows persistent questions regarding responsibility across various state agencies. A 2022 parliamentary law established a database overseen by the Tax Authority, designed to collect and analyze travel data for all individuals entering or leaving Israel.
While security agencies such as the Shin Bet, the Mossad, and the Israel Police maintain full access to this intelligence repository, civilian government bodies like the Transportation Ministry are restricted to submitting targeted queries. Transportation Ministry officials contended that intelligence from the database was never shared with them and that they lacked explicit authority to vet crew rosters. At the same time, records show the ministry never formally requested access to the system, despite possessing the legal avenue to do so.
Although government resolutions place primary responsibility for foreign aviation security on the Transportation Ministry, current operational guidelines approved by the National Security Council limit the ministry’s oversight to relying on security assessments provided by the country of origin.
