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Sunday, October 4, 2026
Former airport worker: Air crew members holding Lebanese, Syrian passports flew to Israel
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Air crew from foreign airlines holding dual citizenship from countries including Lebanon and Syria have arrived in Israel in the past, an unnamed former worker at Ben Gurion Airport tells Channel 12 news.
The former worker says that some of them tried to actually enter Israel, but were refused when the system flagged their second passports from enemy or hostile states.
“I personally saw air crew — pilots and flight attendants — with Lebanese, Syrian and other passports at the counter,” she says. “This happened with all airlines, not just with the Emirati [ones].”
“Even then, we didn’t understand how pilots from hostile countries could fly to Israel,” she says.
The claim comes amid reports that pilots from unfriendly or hostile states have repeatedly landed planes in Israel in recent years.
Last week, flydubai copilot Hamam al-Hammami stabbed the pilot and allegedly sought to crash the plane with its 180 passengers, almost all of them Israeli, and crew. Israeli and Emirati officials have said the incident was a terror attack.
The Times of Israel Community.