October 14, 2026
An Ethiopian cargo plane was forced to turn back from the air, after the Israeli authorities refused to allow it to land due to the nationality of one of its pilots, in an incident that highlights the application of strict vetting procedures targeting aircraft crews whose members hold the nationalities of countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, including those with dual nationalities.
According to a report prepared by journalist Lazar Berman and the “Times of Israel” team, the plane took off from the capital, Addis Ababa, on the night of Sunday-Monday, and as soon as the Israeli authorities received the list of crew members after take-off, it became clear that there was an Indonesian pilot on board, which led to its immediate refusal to land. This decision comes in the context of tightening security measures following the Flydubai incident.
The report explained that these instructions apply to pilots and cockpit personnel belonging to countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, including dual nationalities, which means that possession of a second nationality does not exempt those concerned from these restrictions. In the same context, the report indicated that airline crews holding Lebanese, Iranian, Iraqi, and Pakistani nationalities succeeded in entering Israel during the past years, without specifying the nature of the travel documents used or whether these individuals held dual nationalities.
For its part, journalistic reports by blogger Iris Lifshitz Klinger on the “Ynet” website stated that the plane was forced to dump quantities of its fuel over the sea during the return flight to Addis Ababa, where the Indonesian pilot was replaced by another whose nationality complies with Israeli standards.
The incident raised serious questions about the timing mechanism for transmitting aircraft crew data. The Israeli Ministry of Transport was informed that the technical systems are unable to provide nationality data 48 hours before take-off, and that this information is only available prior to the flight time, noting that the mechanism for transferring the aforementioned data was previously approved with the knowledge and approval of the Ministry.
In its response to the incident, “Tal Airlines” explained, via the “Ynet” website, that the incident was limited to a cargo flight that does not belong to its group, stressing that it does not affect regular passenger flights between Tel Aviv and Addis Ababa. The company added that, according to its data, the list of banned countries was not available at the time the crew was distributed, and that the decision to return the plane was taken immediately upon discovering the presence of an unaccredited individual, at a time when the Israeli Ministry of Transport did not respond to inquiries at the time.
