Israeli intelligence played a crucial role in breaking up last year an alleged terror cell that plotted to bomb an Etihad flight departing Sydney, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed.
While the government is reluctant to speak publicly on intelligence sources, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed his country’s hitherto unknown role during an address to an American Jewish conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
“The Israeli intelligence services thwarted the downing of an Australian plane, an unimaginable slaughter. This would have caused a major disruption in global air transport and this is only one of dozens of terrorist attacks we have foiled around the world,” Mr Netanyahu said.
Israeli media reported its signals intelligence unit, which intercepts electronic communication, passed on information to Australian agencies on July 26, 2017, with members of the cell arrested three days later. Police were unaware of the plot until then.
“We did get intelligence advice from Israel and it meant ASIO then reached out to other partners and, with all of the information packaged together, it resulted in arrests. I think the Federal Police, if you look at the intricate detail of what took place, did an exceptional job of dealing with that threat.”
The Australian Federal Police allege the group planned to put a bomb on board an Etihad flight on July 15 disguised as a meat mincer but were stopped because it was too heavy to take on board as carry on luggage at the check in counter.
Read the full article written by Andrew Tillett at the Australian Financial Review.