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Sunday, October 4, 2026
Eisenkot, Bennett call for Regev’s ouster over flydubai security failure
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Opposition leaders are stepping up calls for Transportation Minister Miri Regev to resign or be fired over her ministry’s failure to prevent last week’s attack on a flydubai flight.
“From the moment the scale of the failure began to emerge, the leadership, as is its custom, disappeared. In a worthy, properly functioning government, [Regev] would have submitted her resignation yesterday evening. Since she did not, the prime minister should have fired her immediately,” says Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot.
“This kind of leadership endangers Israel and directly endangers its citizens. They have learned absolutely nothing from October 7. Anyone who refuses to investigate and runs from responsibility out of fear cannot prevent the next disaster,” he continues.
Former prime minister and B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett similarly says that “any prime minister who cared about Israel’s security would demand answers from his transportation minister and throw [Regev] out.”
He adds that the public urgently deserves answers: “Is it safe or dangerous to fly to Israel? Have Iranian pilots been traveling to Israel recently? And what exactly is the government doing now to prevent the next failure?”
Both leaders draw a direct connection between the flydubai failure and October 7, arguing that the government’s failure to prevent the attacks, as well as their refusal to investigate and accept responsibility, reflects the same failures of leadership. Israel will mark the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Wednesday.
Regev has denied responsibility for the incident, blaming intelligence agencies, despite the Transportation Ministry’s key role in vetting foreign pilots. The attacker, an Omani copilot, should not have been permitted to fly the Tel Aviv route without scrutiny.
Netanyahu has similarly never accepted direct responsibility for October 7, deflected blame onto security and intelligence organizations, and refused to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate the failures surrounding the attack.
The Times of Israel Community.