Israeli military intelligence helped thwart a Sydney-based terror plot to bring down an Etihad flight with a bomb, the federal government has confirmed.
Four men were arrested over the conspiracy in July, which allegedly involved smuggling a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder onto an Abu Dhabi-bound flight.
The device never made it onto the plane, apparently because it was too heavy to pass check-in.
The Times of Israel cited a senior officer as saying Unit 8200 attached to the Israeli Intelligence Corps provided “exclusive intelligence” that led to the prevention of the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the report in a speech in Jerusalem overnight, according to Reuters.
“I can tell you that this is one of many, many such actions that we did preventing terrorism around the world,” he said.
Read the article by Jamie McKinnell (AAP) in The Australian.