Saudi Arabia rejected multiple requests by Israel to send its own military and commercial planes to retrieve passengers from a diverted flydubai flight, a Saudi source said. "They asked to send military warplanes, two or three direct to Tabuk airport, then asked to send El Al commercial one.
Turned down as well," the source stated, adding that the message was communicated through the UAE. The diplomatic refusal followed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia by a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight after a pilot allegedly attempted to crash the aircraft.
The Saudi source asserted that the kingdom fulfilled its international obligation regardless of the passengers' nationalities, noting that 166 of the 174 travelers were Israeli according to media reports. The United Arab Emirates' chief prosecutor announced an investigation into the incident, including potential terrorist activity or intent.
Israel alleged that the co-pilot tried to crash the plane before the pilot and passengers intervened, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News it was too early to identify those behind the altercation. Saudi Arabia has historically resisted US pressure to join the Abraham Accords and normalise relations with Israel without a clear path to Palestinian statehood.