JERUSALEM, — All it took was a blood pressure gauge, mention of the word “al-Aksa,” rumors of Chechen terrorists, and a Russian airliner hijacked to Israel to get the world’s attention for a few hours Sunday.
But the high drama ended when the hijacker turned out to be a harmless, drugged and deranged man with a rambling racist message who wanted to come to Israel from Dagestan because “there are many intelligent people here.”
After a daylong ordeal which sent Prime Minister Ehud Barak zig-zagging across the hemisphere and Russian anti-terrorist commandos flying in from Moscow, the plane, with the hijacker and the 57 hostages aboard, flew back to Russia Sunday night.
The unfolding story that took a number of turns culminated in the unarmed hijacker’s peaceful surrender, and the Russians promised Israel they wouldn’t execute the hijacker.
The chief of staff of the Israeli army, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, later called the incident “a good exercise for the army and security forces.”
But Israel’s attitude was far from dismissive when it received the initial reports several hours earlier that a plane en route from the Caucasus Mountain region to Moscow had been commandeered and the hijackers were demanding to be flown to Israel.
Rumors quickly spread — perhaps the plane was filled with dozens of armed Chechen rebels ready to lend a bloody hand in the Palestinians’ struggles? Word soon leaked — later disproved — to Israel Radio that the hijackers had a list of demands for releasing Palestinian prisoners.
When the plane arrived in the region after refueling in Baku, Azerbaijan, Israel initially refused it permission to land. However, after the pilot warned his fuel was running out and the hijackers were determined to land in Israel, the plane was directed to the southern airport of Ovda, north of Eilat, under escort from the Israeli air force.
“The initial responses were negative, since we saw no reason to pick up this hot potato and as far as we knew there were no Israelis on board or any reason to get involved,” Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland, head of the Israel Defense Forces’s operations branch, told a briefing afterwards.
But after the pilot said he had little fuel left, “we decided to take the appropriate steps,” said Eiland.
The hijacked Russian plane landed at Ovda around 6 a.m. Shortly afterward, the hijacker disembarked and began direct negotiations with Israeli security officials.
“We could quickly see that he did not look like someone entirely sane,” Eiland said.
“He was talking about his concerns over the takeover of the white race by the yellow race,” and “he showed us a videotape with basically the same message. But at this point, it was not clear if he was the lone hijacker. And we knew there were arms on the plane, not only because he said so, but because the pilot said so as well.”
The hijacker, identified as Ahmed Arnalhan, around 30, apparently acted on his own.
Arnalhan, who was eventually seized by Israeli security forces, said he entered the cockpit with a dummy bomb resembling a blood pressure meter.
Israeli security forces still proceeded with caution to ensure there were no more hijackers or explosives on the plane.
Light arms, including pistols, that had been in the possession of the pilot and two Russian security guards were taken off.
The pilot then disembarked, and after his report resembled the version told by the hijacker, the passengers were allowed to get off and arrangements made for their return to Russia.
Among those on the plane were the Dagestani finance minister. But reports said it was not clear whether the hijacker knew that he was on board.