Four men were arrested in late July over the conspiracy, which the Australian Federal Police allege involved smuggling a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder onto an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed overnight reports that the country's Unit 8200, attached to the Israeli Intelligence Corps, provided "exclusive intelligence" that thwarted the attack.

"I can tell you that this is one of many, many such actions that we did preventing terrorism around the world," he said during a speech in Jerusalem, according to Reuters.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton confirmed Australia's spy agency ASIO was assisted by Israeli counterparts.

"We are very grateful because it did lead directly to dealing with this issue," he told Sydney Radio 2GB on Thursday.

ASIO then worked with other international partners, Mr Dutton said.

"There's an enormous capacity they (Israel) have within the intelligence-gathering space and it's an important relationship with ASIO and the Australian Federal Police."

In the weeks following the dramatic arrests, Lebanon claimed to have been monitoring the suspects for over a year and said it had co-ordinated with Australian authorities for a long time.

It's previously been suggested Australian authorities only knew of the plot after the event when they were tipped off by foreign intelligence services.

There have also been conflicting versions of what the plot involved.

Two of the four men originally arrested - Khaled Khayat and his brother Mahmoud Khayat - have each been charged with two counts of planning or preparing a terrorist act.

A third man, Khaled Merhi, was charged with an unrelated weapons offence, while the fourth was released without charge.

Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk in August claimed the bomb - to have been placed on a July 15 flight - was hidden inside a large child's doll.

He said another Sydney-based brother who was to carry the device, Amer Khayat, was involved in the operation, contrary to AFP suggestions he was to be an unwitting participant.

The bomb never made it onto the airliner because it exceeded weight limits at the check-in counter.

Following the arrests, AFP deputy commissioner Michael Phelan said tests of the airport security systems using a mock IED returned a 100 per cent success rate.

But the plot "probably" would have succeeded had the luggage not been too heavy, according to Mr Machnouk.

NSW Police on Thursday directed questions to the AFP. The AFP directed questions to the home affairs department.The department's media unit referred to Mr Dutton's comments earlier on Thursday.

Lebanon says a fourth brother, Tareq Khayat, moved to the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria and become a commander in the jihadist group well before the planned Etihad bombing.

Mr Dutton says 14 imminent terror attacks have been stopped in Australia and 85 people have been charged with terror-related offences in recent years.

Australian Associated Press