US team flies to Israel over visa waiver threat after attack

An official American delegation is expected to land in Israel in the coming days for an urgent review of the country's compliance with Visa Waiver Program requirements. The inspection comes against the backdrop of a severe security failure exposed following the attempted attack on a Fly Dubai flight, Channel 12 reported.

The delegation, arriving directly from a similar inspection in the United Arab Emirates, will examine closely whether Israel continues to meet the program's strict security standards. At this stage, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has clarified that the ESTA status of Israelis remains unchanged, but the sudden arrival of the inspection team has raised concern at the Transportation Ministry and security agencies.

The American inspection comes in the wake of the terror incident carried out by Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hamami on September 30 aboard Fly Dubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Al-Hamami, who had undergone a process of religious radicalization and had previously been fired from Oman Air under similar circumstances, pulled out an emergency axe mid-flight on a plane carrying more than 170 passengers, most of them Israeli citizens, and attempted to kill Indian captain Smit Machchaar and seize control of the aircraft.

Fly Dubai aircraft
Photo: Yossi Aloni - Flash90 — Fly Dubai aircraft Photo: Yossi Aloni - Flash90 (צילום: Flash90)

The resourcefulness of passengers and crew prevented a catastrophic disaster, which ended in a dramatic emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. But the central failure shaking up the security establishment is the fact that although the crew list was transmitted to Israel in advance, local systems produced no warning whatsoever.

The investigation revealed a disturbing reality: in the past year alone, approximately 1,240 air crew members from countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel entered the country without any adequate background checks or thorough screening. This represents a severe breach that raises enormous questions about Israel's ability to meet its security commitments under the Visa Waiver Program, which it joined in 2023.

Washington holds full legal authority to suspend or even cancel participation in the program in cases of security failures. Meanwhile, within the system a vocal confrontation is underway between the Transportation Ministry and security agencies over responsibility for the failure.

Parallel to the American inspection, a criminal investigation has been opened against two senior officials at the Transportation Ministry. The investigation concerns Dvir Rubinstein, director of the Aviation Security Operations Center, and Avri Cohen, head of the Emergency, Security, Information and Cyber Division at the Transportation Ministry.

Rubinstein is suspected of conflict of interest. According to the N12 report, while serving at the Transportation Ministry, Rubinstein worked for foreign airlines he was supposed to oversee by virtue of his position, and even received money from Fly Dubai for training he provided to the company. Cohen is being investigated over reports that he simultaneously served as a reserve security officer at an Israeli airline abroad.

Pilots and professional sources are demanding the immediate imposition of strict background check requirements on every foreign pilot landing in Israeli airspace, a red line that illustrates how fragile the aviation routine has become in the era of the Abraham Accords. Passengers who survived the incident are dealing with severe trauma, with some testifying that they feel the state abandoned them without psychological support or official recognition.