Israeli airline said to have begun background checks on crews of leased foreign planes

An Israeli airline has decided not to wait for the Shin Bet to take action on checking foreign crew, with the carrier hiring a cybersecurity company to carry out background screening on those manning its leased planes, Channel 13 reported Friday.

The report, which did not name the airline involved, came as a stream of gaping flaws in Israel’s security arrangements has emerged since the attempted terror attack on a flydubai airliner from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

Under an arrangement known as “wet leasing,” an airline rents an aircraft from another carrier, along with its crew, maintenance services, and insurance.

Yet Israeli airlines chartering wet-leased foreign aircraft are not subject to the security protocols imposed by the Shin Bet security agency, which mandates the presence of armed sky marshals on Israeli commercial planes, the installation of advanced anti-missile defense systems on aircraft, special passenger and luggage security screenings, and the stationing of dedicated Israeli security personnel at foreign airports globally to secure the aircraft.

The Channel 13 report said that the airline decided to take action rather than waiting for a decision on the matter by the Transportation Ministry, Shin Bet and Mossad.

According to the outlet, the carrier has asked a tech company to scan and analyze the social media content and comments of some 2,500 pilots and flight attendants on wet-leased planes.

Wet leases, and the “dry” version involving only the aircraft, are standard in the aviation industry, where carriers don’t always have the fleets necessary to meet constantly shifting demand.

Israeli airlines, led by charter carriers Israir and Arkia, heavily rely on wet-leasing from foreign carriers.

Related op-ed — As with Oct. 7, so too with Sept. 30’s flydubai attack: A failure to prevent obvious deadly threats, and a refusal to take responsibility

In July, 70 percent of Arkia’s flights and 56% of Israir flights were wet-leased, Channel 12 said earlier this week. For Sun D’Or, the figure was 5%. Flagship carrier El Al has said 5 to 8 percent of its flights are operated by foreign aircraft.

The security procedures for such flights were previously approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israir has said.

In the wake of the flydubai incident, local media has reported that Israeli security bodies have been warning for years that the Transportation Ministry is not meeting its responsibilities in performing adequate security checks on foreign airlines and their crew members flying into Israel and inspecting Israeli flights operated by foreign carriers. The Transportation Ministry has responded that it doesn’t have the intelligence apparatus needed.