El Al, the IDF and flydubai each move to fly stranded Israelis home from Saudi Arabia

Israeli passengers left stranded in Saudi Arabia after their flydubai flight made an emergency landing there are the focus of several competing efforts to get them home, according to Israeli media. Israel's national airline, El Al, said it was prepared to help and to dispatch a rescue aircraft right away, Ynet reported in a news alert. Minutes later, Ynet reported, describing it as a first publication, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz had told the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to send military rescue planes for the passengers.

The Dubai-based carrier has its own plan. The Times of Israel reported that flydubai said it would send a further aircraft to the airport where the flight came down, which the paper named as Tabruk Airport. The same report, citing Hebrew-language media, said Israel was looking to send either an Israeli civilian plane or a military one, and that the way the passengers would return remained unclear.

Three offers, one unresolved decision

The reports describe three possible routes home. The first is El Al. Political commentator Amit Segal wrote that El Al had offered to launch a rescue flight to Saudi Arabia, adding that it would be the first such flight in the airline's history. The second is a military aircraft, following the instruction Ynet attributed to Netanyahu and Katz. The third is the replacement plane flydubai says it will send.

The sources do not fully agree on where things stand. Ynet framed the military option as an order already given. Segal wrote that, at the time of his post, it appeared the state would send an IDF aircraft. The Times of Israel, publishing later than the other reports, said only that Israel was seeking to send a civilian or military Israeli plane and that the outcome was not yet clear. None of the reports states that any aircraft has taken off.

Who is involved

El Al is Israel's flag carrier and its largest airline. Its statement, as carried by Ynet, spoke of readiness to assist in returning Israelis to the country.

flydubai is a low-cost airline based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which operates flights to and from Israel. The reports do not say where the flight was going when it diverted.

The IDF is Israel's military, which includes the air force. The reports use only the surname Katz for the official who, together with the prime minister, gave the instruction; the order to the military is consistent with Israel Katz's role as defence minister.

Why Saudi Arabia matters here

Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have formal diplomatic relations, which is part of why an Israeli aircraft landing on Saudi soil, whether civilian or military, would be unusual. Segal's note that an El Al rescue flight to the kingdom would be a first for the company reflects that background. The reports do not say whether Saudi authorities have been asked to approve an Israeli aircraft, or whether they have responded.

Other reporting on the incident

The Times of Israel's live coverage of the day also carried separate items: one on video that the paper said shows passengers clapping and singing as the flydubai plane touched down in Saudi Arabia, and another headlined as reports that Israeli officials increasingly believe the emergency was terror. The material available to us gives only those headlines, not the underlying details, and no official statement on the cause of the emergency appears in the reports.

What the reports do not say

• How many passengers were on the flight, and how many of them are Israeli.
• What caused the emergency landing. The suggestion of terror is attributed to reports of officials' beliefs, not to any confirmed finding.
• Whether anyone was hurt.
• Which of the three options will actually be used, and when the passengers are expected to leave.
• Whether Saudi Arabia has agreed to receive an Israeli civilian or military aircraft.
• Where the passengers are staying while they wait.