Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the head of the National Security Council to conduct a comprehensive investigation into foreign airline security and vetting procedures for foreign pilots and carriers operating flights to Israel.
In what may be seen as a rebuke to the Transport Ministry under Minister Miri Regev, the Prime Minister directed Shmuel Ben-Ezra, head of the National Security Council in the Prime Minister's Office, to lead the inquiry and re-examine all security protocols governing foreign civil aviation to Israel.
The move follows widespread criticism of the Transport Ministry since the revelation of the Flydubai terrorist co-pilot's identity, his clear religious extremism that reportedly led to his removal from two other airlines in the past, and his multiple flights into Israel in recent months without incident.
