Police have opened a criminal review following the Flydubai flight security failure, focusing on the conduct of two senior Transportation Ministry officials who simultaneously held additional positions connected to the aviation industry.
The first official under review is Dvir Rubinstein, an outsourced employee who works in aviation safety while also providing consulting services to foreign airlines.
According to an investigation by Kan News, Rubinstein was responsible, as part of his role, for overseeing on behalf of the Transportation Ministry the security arrangements of foreign airlines flying to Israel.
At the same time, through Smart Security, a company he owns, Rubinstein provided paid lectures and training to foreign airlines, including Flydubai and Emirates.
According to the report, the training he provided was intended, among other things, to authorize the airlines to carry out themselves the inspections that he was supposed to supervise as part of his work for the Transportation Ministry.
The second senior official under review is Avri Cohen, head of the Security Division, who is also employed as an overseas security officer in the Ofek security apparatus, without approval from the Civil Service Commission.
The review was opened amid serious questions raised following the attempted terror attack aboard the Flydubai flight to Israel and over how the Omani pilot, Hammam al-Hamami, was able to serve as co-pilot on a flight to Israel.
On Sunday, it was reported that senior security officials placed responsibility on the Transportation Ministry’s Security Division and claimed its conduct enabled al-Hamami to reach Israel as a member of an aircrew.
"The responsibility lies entirely with the Aviation Security Operations Center. They were supposed to fulfill their responsibility. Any reasonable person understands that an Omani pilot should not be arriving here," the officials told Kan News.