Egyptian pre-October 7 flight to Israel reportedly routine business flight
Two businessmen on a routine trip were the passengers of the Egyptian aircraft that landed in Israel on September 26, 2023, KAN News reported on Wednesday, citing several sources familiar with the matter.
According to the KAN report, the passengers entered Israel through the Fattal Terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport, and QAS provided ground services before the aircraft returned empty to Cairo.
KAN noted that the flight was not registered as official or security-related, and that the Transportation Ministry, Fattal Terminal, the Population and Immigration Authority, and an Egyptian charter company are all aware of the passengers’ identities. However, the entities will not publish the names, in line with standard privacy practices.
The flight in question has come under scrutiny after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed earlier on Wednesday that an Egyptian aircraft had landed in Israel several days before the October 7 massacre.
“I want to know who he met. I don’t know,” said Netanyahu, claiming that whoever had met Kamel was trying to “pin it” on him.
Also on Wednesday, N12 News reported that Israel’s security chiefs were unaware that Kamel had visited Israel in September 2023.
The prime minister said he had been attending a memorial ceremony for fallen IDF soldiers at the time, having further claimed in a Tuesday interview with Channel 14 that he had never met Kamel before.
“When does an intelligence chief come and speak to a head of state?” Netanyahu asked. “It hasn’t happened to me once, OK? There’s no such thing.”
His claim contradicted official statements from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that Netanyahu had met with Kamel in May 2021.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Egyptian General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and a delegation of senior officials headed by him at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem,” the statement read.
Footage of the meeting was also published on the prime minister’s official YouTube channel, while an official photograph of Netanyahu and Kamel shaking hands was published by the PMO alongside the statement.
Idan Kweller contributed to this report.
