TEL AVIV — The attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight to Israel has exposed vulnerabilities in the security arrangements underpinning one of the most consequential relationships created by the Abraham Accords, even as Israeli officials say the incident is unlikely to cause lasting damage to ties with the United Arab Emirates.
The question of who is at fault for the FlyDubai incident, coupled with Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s demand to halt all flights from the United Arab Emirates, could cast a shadow over Israeli-Emirati bilateral security cooperation in the coming days, Israeli security officials told Al-Monitor. Still, the officials believe that the incident is unlikely to harm the 2020 Abraham Accords in the long run, under which Israel and the UAE established diplomatic relations.
FlyDubai flights to Tel Aviv were suspended Thursday pending an investigation into Wednesday’s incident, in which the copilot reportedly attempted to crash the aircraft en route to Israel. Arrangements are currently being made to return stranded Israelis from Dubai to Israel.
“In the medium and long term, security cooperation will only tighten,” a senior Israeli official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Fortunately, the UAE did not try to cover up the incident. They took responsibility for it and opened an investigation. We hope to be allowed to take part in this investigation so that we know exactly what happened and can plug the loophole that allowed the attack to occur,” he added.