United Airlines Suspends Pilot Over October 7 Praise Amid Security Failures

United Airlines has suspended pilot Ibrahim Moslam after he published extreme pro-Palestinian posts praising the October 7 attack in Israel. The pilot had previously been suspended in November 2023 for a similar reason, but was later allowed to return to work.

This suspension comes against the backdrop of the FlyDubai security breach. About two weeks ago, a pilot from Oman—a country with no diplomatic relations with Israel—attempted to carry out an attack on a FlyDubai flight heading to Israel and crash the aircraft. Thanks to the resourcefulness and courage of Israeli passengers and the chief pilot, the plane did not crash and was saved. The incident sparked outrage in Israel and worldwide.

For many days, the government tried to shift responsibility and spread ambiguity regarding how Mam al-Hamami, an Omani citizen, managed to sit in the co-pilot seat of a commercial flight carrying Israelis to Tel Aviv. An internal security document proves that the Ministry of Transport, headed by Minister Miri Regev, is the sole statutory authority responsible for setting security procedures for foreign flights entering Israel.

The most critical clause in the document directly addresses the failure that allowed the terrorist into the cockpit: airlines must ensure that no flight crew member holds citizenship from a country without diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, airlines are responsible for cross-checking crew lists against restricted nationalities.