Shin Bet agents participating in interrogation of flydubai terrorist in UAE, ToI learns

Shin Bet agents are participating in the interrogation of the copilot who attempted to carry out a terror attack aboard a flydubai flight last week, The Times of Israel has learned.

Interrogators from Israel’s domestic security agency flew to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the questioning of Hamam al-Hammami, in a development approved for publication on Monday by Israeli security officials.

The Shin Bet has declined to comment so far.

The copilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, has told UAE interrogators he planned to crash the flight into Ben Gurion Airport before he was hired by the Dubai-owned airline, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the probe.

A third source briefed on the UAE probe said al-Hammami also operated a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year and had considered hijacking and crashing the plane then, but opted not to.

It was not immediately clear why the co-pilot changed his mind on that previous flight, although the co-pilot is thought to have known someone onboard, the source said.

The two Israeli officials said the co-pilot told interrogators that he had applied for a job at Dubai state-owned flydubai after searching for airlines that fly to Tel Aviv.

The third source said Israel was being continuously updated about the investigation from the UAE.

Disaster on board the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight was averted after passengers and crew subdued al-Hammami, who attacked the capatin, Indian national Smit Machchhar, with the aircraft’s crash axe. Machchhar survived the attack and has been hailed as a hero for managing to open the cockpit door. The plane was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli.

Israel has said it does not believe any other members of the flydubai aircrew were involved in al-Hammami’s attempt to crash the plane, according to Channel 12 news.

Crew members were questioned by investigators in the UAE, and they concluded that the other crew members were not involved. The aircrew members were questioned at Israel’s request, after some passengers reported what they considered strange behavior by other aircrew members. The crew members acknowledged they were shocked and rattled by the unfolding attack.

Israel, the report said, shares the UAE investigators’ conclusions.

The network also reported, without sourcing, that the Omani copilot told his interrogators that he was acting “in revenge for Gaza,” and “I wanted to die as a martyr.”

Channel 12 also quoted two sources saying a Mossad official told Israeli cabinet ministers on Sunday that the al-Hammami made brief visits in recent years to several countries that are hostile to Israel.

“We are checking whether, during those visits, an individual or an organization of any kind activated or recruited him,” a Mossad representative was quoted as saying.

The copilot’s precise motive and whether he acted alone remained under investigation.

US President Donald Trump however, when asked Wednesday if he thought Iran was responsible for the flydubai attack, responded, “I do. I personally do.”

Trump did not elaborate on how he reached that assessment and said Iran would be hit “very hard” if it was found to have been involved.

But US Vice President JD Vance said he had not seen conclusive evidence tying Iran to the attack, saying that he would defer to Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and other officials.

“I don’t want to get ahead of any announcements there,” Vance added. “It’s certainly something we’re looking at, but I wouldn’t say I’ve seen anything conclusive just yet.”

Asked about whether he is concerned about foreign pilots flying in the US, Vance said, “Anytime you have any person coming from outside the United States, you’ve got to be extra careful that that person is actually a good human being and is going to contribute to American society.

“That’s the story of the 9/11 terrorist attack — We brought a lot of people into the United States of America who shouldn’t have been here and certainly shouldn’t have been flying planes,” he claimed.

“The interesting thing about that (flydubai) story is we knew that guy was a problem — meaning not United States intelligence — but if you look historically, that person should not have been flying an airline,” Vance continued.

“So we’re certainly looking at our procedures within the United States to make sure that people who are obviously flight risks are not getting behind the wheel of an airplane,” he added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the copilot underwent Islamist radicalization, but added that it was too early to determine whether Iran was behind the attack.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.