October 2, 2026
The Israeli security services are awaiting an upcoming green light from the Saudi authorities that will allow members of the Mossad foreign intelligence service to interrogate the co-pilot, who is suspected of being involved in the Fly Dubai flight incident, in light of an intensive investigation exploring his motives and whether he acted individually or under external instructions, according to what was revealed in a report prepared by journalist Avi Ashkenazi and published by the Maariv newspaper.
According to the report, the Mossad is leading the Israeli investigation into the incident, with the support of the Shin Bet General Security Service, which is participating in collecting testimonies and providing the necessary support. While estimates by the security establishment in Israel indicate the possibility of the Mossad obtaining Saudi approval soon, the Israeli side confirms its insistence on conducting the interrogation, at a time when Riyadh has not issued any official approval in this regard yet.
On the field level, Shin Bet investigators are preparing to interrogate the flight passengers upon their arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. The report quoted a security source as confirming that all passengers would be subject to investigation, as the agency, in coordination with the Mossad, prepared a unified list of questions to clarify the circumstances of what happened.
A security source familiar with the course of the investigations explained that the questions focus on several axes, saying: “Did he act as a lone wolf? Did he carry out advance planning? Or did the matter happen before or during the trip?”, adding: “We are verifying whether an organization or country stands behind him. This matter is not clear to us currently.” The source stressed that all possibilities remain possible, including the goal that the co-pilot sought to achieve, explaining by saying: “We are investigating two possibilities: Did he intend to shoot down the plane with 160 Israeli passengers on board, or did he want to land in a third country?”
Within the framework of distributing investigation powers based on international aviation agreements, Saudi Arabia is considered the country hosting the incident, while investigation and prosecution powers extend to include the UAE as the country of registration of the aircraft, in addition to the countries whose nationalities the passengers hold. The report pointed out that Israel is demanding priority in the investigation given that the majority of passengers hold Israeli citizenship, without any official Saudi confirmation of this explanation.
In a related context, the report quoted security sources who spoke to Reuters that the Saudi authorities rejected an Israeli request to allow Israeli planes to land to transport passengers.
For its part, the “Walla” website quoted a passenger named Uri, who was stuck in Saudi Arabia, as saying: “I am not ready to board a Flydubai flight unless there is no other option. They told us that whoever is filming will not travel and will remain here to undergo tests. We are afraid,” noting that the passengers were informed that the Israeli Air Force did not have permission to land at the airport.
Between the Israeli insistence on reaching the suspect and the bet on the possibility of Saudi approval, the issue of the Mossad’s interrogation of the co-pilot remains pending and without a final resolution.
