Israel wants to probe terror angle in flydubai attack. Saudi Arabia just made it easier

Israel's leadership has claimed a terror angle in the attack and bid to crash the flydubai plane by the Omani co-pilot. An access to the co-pilot was needed. Saudi Arabia just made the likelihood of such an Israeli probe easier by handing over the co-pilot to the UAE.

"This is a jihadist terrorist attack," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on the flydubai incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Omani co-pilot a "terrorist". But for Israel to substantiate the claims, the Jewish nation will need to thoroughly investigate the incident and interrogate the co-pilot. That access has now become a possibility with the co-pilot being handed over by Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While Israel doesn't have formal ties with Saudi Arabia, it has developed a warm relationship with the UAE. The UAE signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, recognising the Jewish state. Oman, the country to which the co-pilot belongs, doesn't recognise Israel and has no formal ties with it.

The Omani co-pilot on September 30 attacked the Indian Captain of flydubai Flight FZ1073, Smit Machchhar, and allegedly tried to crash the plane with 174, mostly Israelis, onboard. Despite being wounded, the Indian pilot fought back and opened the cockpit door. The flight, intended for Tel Aviv, landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

To investigate the matter in its entirety, access to the co-pilot and the recording devices in the cockpit is a must. Till the Omani co-pilot was in Saudi Arabia, Israel could have had no access to him. However, things changed with Riyadh handing the co-pilot to Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday (October 1) that the Omani co-pilot had been transferred to the UAE, where the investigation would continue.

The Times of Israel's Diplomatic Correspondent Lazar Berman, in his X post citing an anonymous Israeli official, revealed that "Israel would be a part of UAE's investigation".

In an interview with US-based news broadcaster Fox News on September 30, Netanyahu had said that Jerusalem intended to get to the bottom of the incident. "We'll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we'll find out very soon," he said.

Israeli authorities are probing the possible terror motive of the Omani co-pilot.

But statements and preliminary assessments aside, no definitive conclusions can yet be drawn about the incident — including how an Omani citizen was assigned to operate a flight to Israel and whether he intended to carry out a terrorist attack — until the investigation is complete. That will require an interrogation of the co-pilot, whom a fellow flydubai pilot described as a "religious extremist".

Initially, there was a major problem that Israel could have faced with access to investigation.

The incident was thwarted by an Indian pilot, the flight landed in Saudi Arabia. The incident occurred over the kingdom's airspace, and the alleged hijacker was in Saudi's custody. He is also an Omani citizen.

Israel maintains no diplomatic relations with either Saudi Arabia or Oman, and while it has warm ties with the UAE, it lacks a proper bilateral extradition treaty with either of the three Gulf nations. That could have significantly complicated Jerusalem's efforts to investigate the incident, particularly if Israeli authorities required direct access to the suspect or needed to formally seek his transfer.

Demands are growing within Jerusalem for the alleged Omani pilot to be extradited to Israel. This could now be possible as Saudi has transferred the Omani co-pilot to the UAE.

The Indian Captain Smit Machchhar has also been airlifted to a hospital in Dubai from Saudi Arabia due to the severity of his injuries, according to India Today TV's Amit Bharadwaj.

After the Omani co-pilot was handed over to the UAE, Anwar Gargash, the senior advisor to the Emirati President termed the attempted hijacking as a "dangerous terrorist act".

In a post on X, Gargash praised Machchhar's courage in averting the crash.

"The Indian pilot at Flydubai, Smit Machchhar, deserves every bit of appreciation, for he embodied the meaning of courage and responsibility in the face of a dangerous terrorist act and a potential disaster. His professionalism and moral sense in the darkest of circumstances make him a true hero," Gargash wrote on X.

SAUDI ARABIA HAD DENIED ACCESS TO ISRAEL

Saudi Arabia played a central role in the initial investigation of what actually happened in the flydubai aircraft, because the Boeing 737 MAX 8 landed there. Now, the kingdom has completed its investigation and both pilots have been shifted to the UAE by Saudi authorities.

The UAE, as the home country of the airliner flydubai, will continue the probe. Oman, since the alleged perpetrator is reportedly an Omani citizen, is also involved in the investigations. And since the aircraft in question is an American-made Boeing 737 MAX 8, US aviation authorities might become involved, reported Ynet.

It has been well established by now that the Omani co-pilot attacked the Indian Captain.

Writing on X, Guy Azriel, Diplomatic Correspondent at the Israeli news channel, i24NEWS, on Wednesday stated that "Israel is pushing for access to the co-pilot's interrogation, but Saudi Arabia is currently refusing. A security source tells i24NEWS that whether Israel insists on gaining access will depend on the information provided by the Saudis from their interrogation."

Later, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry's statement on Thursday said that a preliminary investigation into the emergency landing of a flydubai flight found that "the pilot was assaulted by his co-pilot, resulting in various injuries to both". The Saudi ministry said that a security team from the UAE took part in the probe.

So where do Israeli investigators come in?

WILL ISRAELI OFFICIALS GET TO INTERROGATE OMANI CO-PILOT?

AP reported on Thursday — before the Omani co-pilot was shifted to the UAE — the Israeli PM Netanyahu as saying that he had spoken with the UAE's president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

"He'll be, I assume, moved very quickly to Dubai," Netanyahu told CBS News on Thursday, adding that Israeli authorities will "join the interrogation and find out what happened there exactly".

Another senior Israeli official told CBS News that the UAE's President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan personally told Netanyahu on Wednesday that he expected Saudi authorities to transfer the pilot to the UAE for questioning.

With reports coming in that the Omani co-pilot has been shifted to Dubai, Israeli officials might get to question him.

Ynet, meanwhile, reported on Wednesday that the Mossad is leading the investigation with assistance from the Shin Bet.

And while Israeli officials are stating that the Omani pilot will be handed over to the Emiratis, there has been no confirmation yet from Saudi authorities, who have remained tight-lipped so far.

HOW ISRAEL MIGHT PROBE FLYDUBAI CASE

The biggest problem for the Israeli investigators was the relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem, or rather the lack thereof.

Saudi Arabia wouldn't have partnered with Israel in any probe. Reuters reported Saudi Arabia as having turned down an Israeli request to allow Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to enter the kingdom and evacuate passengers stranded after flydubai flight FZ1073.

The hurdle has been overcome as the co-pilot is extradited to the UAE. Israel maintains positive ties with the UAE with the latter recognising the Jewish nation as a country in 2020, and Jerusalem providing Dubai with air defence assets.

So what is the path ahead for Israel?

For now, Israel could, of course, cooperate with Emirati authorities. The latter have themselves launched their own investigation, citing the fact that the airliner was Emirati and the aircraft was registered in the UAE as putting the case in their jurisdiction. PM Netanyahu has declared his country's intent to do the same.

Since the aircraft is registered in the UAE, Israel's participation could enable it to access vital evidence like cockpit recordings and black box data which will have recorded everything that took place in the cockpit. Jerusalem could also question officials of flydubai to get more information about the alleged Omani would-be hijacker, and how he was assigned to a flight operating in Israeli airspace.

But a complete joint Israeli-Emirati investigation would need access to the Omani pilot in order to ascertain his motives.

As the Saudi investigation is over, the co-pilot has been handed over to the UAE for its probe.

As such, the key fact remains, the alleged attacker was officially in Saudi custody, and Israel does not have a straightforward legal mechanism to compel Riyadh to give Israeli investigators access to him. Now, as the co-pilot is handed over to the UAE, Israel has a chance of getting access to him.

- Ends