(BBC News) Israel helped avert an ISIS-linked terror plot in Australia to bring down a plane last year, both nations have confirmed. Last July, Australian police charged Lebanese-Australian brothers Khaled Khayat, 49, and Mahmoud Khayat, 32, over a plan to blow up an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Jewish-American leaders, "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." Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said, "The Etihad flight was almost blown out of the sky and would have resulted in hundreds of people losing their lives so we are very grateful for the assistance Israel provided in that matter."
2018-02-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive