Israel bars United pilot from its airspace over alleged support for Iran, Hezbollah

Israel has barred a United Airlines pilot from serving as a crew member on flights entering Israeli airspace, Channel 12 reported Wednesday. The move was largely a formality, as the man is not qualified to pilot such flights anyway.

The network, citing a letter it had obtained, said the move came after authorities reviewed unverified social media allegations that the pilot in question had expressed support for Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.

The pilot is of Iranian origin. The allegations were based on claims posted by other users on X, while the material referred to Israeli authorities did not include posts published by the pilot himself, according to the report.

Channel 12 said United had confirmed receiving the directive, while noting that the pilot has worked for the airline since November 2022 but is not qualified to fly wide-body aircraft and therefore currently only operates domestic US routes and flights between the United States and Canada.

The letter obtained by Channel 12 showed that the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism had flagged information about the pilot following increased scrutiny of foreign aircrews after last month’s terror attack aboard a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv. The ministry said the information warranted a professional security examination because of the sensitive nature of his position as a pilot with an international airline.

Channel 12 reported that the Transportation Ministry subsequently sent the material to the Mossad and Shin Bet agencies for examination.

“The recommendation of the professional bodies was clear — not to allow his arrival in Israel as a member of an aircrew,” the Transportation Ministry told Channel 12. “In accordance with the security recommendation, an official notice was sent to United Airlines informing it of the decision that the pilot is absolutely prohibited from entering the airspace of the State of Israel.”

The scrutiny of foreign aircrews follows the September 30 attempted terror attack aboard flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Omani copilot Hamam al-Hammami attacked the captain during the flight and attempted to bring down the aircraft, which was carrying around 180 people, almost all of them Israelis. The captain and passengers managed to overpower Hammami, and the plane was diverted to Saudi Arabia. Emirati investigators subsequently said the copilot had attempted to commit a terror attack.

The incident exposed major gaps in Israel’s oversight of foreign flight crews. Local media subsequently reported that dozens of Omani pilots had flown into Israel despite rules barring aircrew from countries without diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. Reports said that pilots holding Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi citizenship had also operated flights to Israel. The Transportation Ministry later acknowledged that it did not itself conduct background checks on foreign pilots, while reports indicated that restrictions on the matter had gone largely unenforced.