Israel Tightens Aviation Security as Hijacking Suspected in Malaysia Flight Disappearance

As the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 continues to baffle investigators and aviation experts, Israel is tightening security standards for any flights that enter its aerial territory, according to a report by Channel 2.

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With the strong suspicions the plane was hijacked, Israeli security and aviation officials held meetings and produced a series of evaluations in the past several days.

One of the conclusions they reached is that foreign airlines approaching Israeli airspace must identify themselves far earlier than was standard until now, the report said.

Officials decided on long list of additional security regulations but those will remain classified.

Malaysian investigators are trawling through the backgrounds of the pilots, crew and ground staff who worked on a missing jetliner for clues as to why someone on board flew it perhaps thousands of miles off course, the country's police chief said.

Background checks of passengers on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 have drawn a blank, but not every country whose nationals were on board has responded to requests for information, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference on Sunday.

No trace of the Boeing 777-200ER has been found since it vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, but investigators believe it was diverted by someone who knew how to switch off its communications and tracking systems.

Malaysia briefed envoys from nearly two dozen nations and appealed for international help in the search for the plane along two arcs stretching from the shores of Caspian Sea to the far south of the Indian Ocean.