Malaysia: Emirates flight with Israelis on board forced to land due to bad weather

An Emirates flight from Dubai to Singapore with 12 Israeli passengers was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Malaysia on Wednesday due to bad weather. This was a cause for concern, because Israel and Malaysia do not have diplomatic links. In fact, Israel regards Malaysia as a hostile state.

The Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Ronen Levy, conducted the efforts to get in touch with the Israelis on board the aircraft. According to media reports, Israeli diplomats worked with Emirates Airline to contact one of the passengers and stay abreast of their situation and welfare.

During their stay on Malaysian soil, the passengers were not required to disembark. After approximately five hours of waiting on the tarmac, the flight resumed its journey to Singapore.

“Adverse weather conditions over East Asia forced the diversion of flight EK354 (Dubai-Singapore) to Kuala Lumpur,” explained Emirates. “We regret any inconvenience caused, but the safety of our passengers is our top priority.”

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