Captain Mahmoud Hilmi, the Egyptian Air Force pilot who startled both Israel and the Arab world last January by defecting to Israel in his plane, told a press conference today that he did so because he opposed Egypt’s participation in the Yemen civil war.
Asked why he chose Israel, he replied: “I had two possibilities, an Arab country or Israel. The Arab countries are unstable, therefore I chose Israel.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.