Saudi Arabia provided food, medical assistance and reportedly warm treatment to the Israeli passengers stranded in Tabuk following the dramatic flydubai cockpit attack, but drew a firm line at allowing Israeli military aircraft to land on Saudi soil to bring them home.

Behind the scenes, the Mossad maintained continuous contact with Saudi authorities as Israel worked to evacuate the passengers of flydubai Flight FZ1073, which made an emergency landing in Tabuk after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to bring down the aircraft.

Nearly 180 passengers, most of them Israelis, suddenly found themselves inside a country that has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Despite the unusual circumstances, the Saudis received the passengers, provided them with food and arranged medical treatment for those who required it.

Israel initially sought permission to dispatch Israeli Air Force Hercules transport planes to Tabuk to retrieve the passengers. Riyadh, however, refused to permit the military aircraft to land, reportedly concerned that photographs of Israeli Air Force planes sitting openly at a Saudi airport would be viewed as a highly public demonstration of normalization between the two countries.

Israeli officials then explored another possibility: sending an unmarked Israeli civilian aircraft instead of a military plane.

According to Ynet, the Mossad came close to securing Saudi approval for a so-called “white plane” — an Israeli civilian aircraft without conspicuous identifying markings — that could have flown into Tabuk and brought the stranded Israelis home without the political symbolism of an Israeli military aircraft landing in the kingdom.

That plan ultimately became unnecessary after the passengers agreed to board a replacement aircraft dispatched by flydubai. Some passengers had initially resisted getting back onto another plane belonging to the same airline after the terrifying ordeal they had just survived and hoped that an Israeli aircraft would instead come for them.

After discussions at the airport, the passengers eventually boarded the flydubai rescue flight, which departed Tabuk and landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport later Wednesday.

An Israeli official said the Saudi reluctance to allow an identifiable Israeli aircraft onto its soil reflected the delicate reality of the relationship between Yerushalayim and Riyadh. The two countries cooperate on a range of regional security matters but still lack formal diplomatic relations, and Saudi leaders remain highly sensitive to domestic and regional reaction to visible signs of cooperation with Israel.

“The kingdom is now benefiting from a security connection, thereby paying no price and only gaining,” the senior official said, adding that Israel should find ways to translate the growing behind-the-scenes relationship into diplomatic gains as well.

The circumstances surrounding the emergency landing are themselves being viewed by Israeli officials as another unusual chapter in the steadily developing, though still unofficial, relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The alleged attack aboard FZ1073 was not directed at Saudi Arabia. The flight was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv and was near the Saudi-Jordanian border when the cockpit crisis erupted. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft transmitting a general emergency code and later the 7500 transponder code signaling unlawful interference before turning toward Tabuk.

Saudi air traffic authorities cleared the aircraft for an emergency landing, and Saudi security and medical personnel were waiting when it arrived. The wounded captain, Smit Machchhar, was taken for medical treatment, while the co-pilot accused of attacking him was detained by Saudi authorities for questioning.

Israeli officials have expressed appreciation for the way Saudi Arabia handled both the aircraft and its Israeli passengers, particularly given the absence of diplomatic relations between the countries.

The episode follows other instances of quiet Saudi assistance to Israeli aviation. Since the October 7 massacre and the upheaval that followed across the region, Saudi Arabia has permitted flydubai aircraft traveling to and from Israel to use Saudi airspace, providing an important corridor for the Emirati carrier.

At the same time, security cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia against common regional threats has reportedly continued to deepen away from public view.

That cooperation has recently included the threat posed by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, whose missiles and drones have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.

Despite recent complications in the regional diplomatic picture following Saudi Arabia’s defense arrangements with Turkey and Pakistan, Riyadh reportedly approached Israel through the United States Central Command seeking Israeli intelligence assistance against the Houthis.

Israeli assessments indicate that Yerushalayim responded positively to the Saudi request, reflecting the overlapping security interests of the two countries despite their lack of formal relations.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have also recently moved to deepen their own military coordination under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, with senior military officials discussing greater intelligence sharing and joint efforts to confront regional threats, including Houthi attacks.

The extraordinary events in Tabuk therefore exposed both sides of the complicated Israeli-Saudi relationship: Saudi authorities were willing to accept an Israel-bound aircraft in distress, care for nearly 180 mostly Israeli passengers, detain and investigate the suspected attacker and cooperate with Israeli officials behind the scenes — while still refusing to allow the highly visible sight of Israeli military aircraft landing on Saudi soil.

{Matzav.com}