Egyptian jet that landed before October 7 carried two businessmen, reports say

Senior figures in Israel's security establishment have said they know of no visit to the country by Egypt's intelligence chief in the period before the October 7 attack, Ynet reported. The denial came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, for the first time, that the Egyptian intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, had in fact landed in Israel. A senior security official told Ynet there was considerable doubt that such a visit happened at all, adding: "In the framework of our role, we would have had to know."

At the same time, several Israeli outlets reported that an Egyptian aircraft which landed in Israel a few days before October 7 did not carry the intelligence chief. According to a report by Kan News, relayed by Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, the passengers were two businessmen arriving on a routine flight. The Jerusalem Post also carried the report that the passengers were businessmen.

What is said about the flight

The most detailed account came from journalist Amit Segal on his Telegram channel. Segal wrote that an Egyptian executive jet operated by a charter company called Smart Aviation landed at Ben Gurion Airport on the morning of 26 September 2023. By his account, the plane touched down at around 10 in the morning and left for Cairo at 11, having spent a little over an hour on the ground.

Citing several sources he described as familiar with the flight, Segal said the two businessmen on board entered Israel through the Fattal terminal, and that the trip was an ordinary one for people coming back from Egypt. He wrote that ground handling at the airport was provided by a company named QAS, and that the aircraft departed for Egypt with no passengers aboard.

Ben Gurion Airport, known in Hebrew by the acronym Natbag, is Israel's main international airport and lies outside Tel Aviv.

Who said what

The reports draw on different sourcing. Ynet's account rests on senior security officials speaking to the outlet, and on one senior official quoted directly. The Kan News report, credited by Ravid to reporter Itay Blumental, and Segal's account both focus on who was aboard the aircraft rather than on whether any visit by Kamel took place by other means.

Kan is Israel's public broadcaster. Netanyahu's statement that Kamel had landed in Israel is reported by Ynet as the trigger for the security officials' response; the reports reviewed here do not quote Netanyahu's words directly.

Why the flight mattered

The aircraft had become part of a wider public argument in Israel over whether Egypt passed a warning to Israel ahead of the October 7 attack. In a follow-up post, Segal asked whether the whole story of the Egyptian warning came down to two businessmen who had stopped to refuel, pointing to the rumours, investigations, books and responses that had grown up around it.

In another post, Segal noted that Avi Gil had said in an interview the previous week that a plane belonging to Egyptian intelligence had landed in Israel. The reports do not give further detail about that interview.

The news site News.co.il reposted Segal's comments and quoted him describing the matter as having turned out to be entirely fake.

Where the accounts differ

The reports are not fully consistent on the purpose of the stop. Segal's detailed post says the two businessmen entered Israel through a terminal on what he called a routine flight, and Kan News similarly described them as arriving in the country. Segal's later post, however, framed them as two businessmen who stopped to refuel. These descriptions are not reconciled in the material.

There is also a gap between what the reports establish. The reports about the aircraft address one flight and its passengers. Ynet's security sources go further, casting doubt on whether any visit by the intelligence chief took place. That position stands in contrast to Netanyahu's statement, as reported by Ynet, that Kamel did land in Israel.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports names the two businessmen or says what business brought them to Israel. They do not say whether Kamel travelled to Israel on a different aircraft or at a different time, and they do not explain the basis for Netanyahu's statement. The reports do not include any response from Netanyahu's office, from Egyptian officials or from Smart Aviation. They also do not say whether any warning from Egypt was conveyed to Israel by other channels before October 7, or what Avi Gil's role is.