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Netanyahu Links Flydubai Attack to Islamist Radicalization
Confirmed
In Short: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot who attacked the captain of a Flydubai flight bound for Israel had undergone 'Islamist radical indoctrination' and was suicidal.
Netanyahu told Fox News that the attacker, identified as an Omani national, had intended to crash the plane. The incident occurred on Wednesday, two hours into the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
The attacker, who was subdued by passengers and crew, reportedly called out to the aircrew, 'kill me, kill me,' indicating his suicidal intent.
The flight, carrying 174 passengers, including 166 Israelis, made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after plunging more than 17,000 feet in less than two minutes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the wounded captain, Smit Machchhar, as a 'hero,' and the Indian government commended his 'immense courage.' Captain Machchhar, who was stabbed, managed to open the cockpit door and spoke to Netanyahu on Saturday.
Netanyahu ordered a security review of international flights to Israel, instructing the head of the National Security Council to conduct a thorough review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have also launched investigations into the incident, probing possible terrorist links.
Critics in Israel, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, have called for a thorough investigation into the security lapse that allowed the Omani co-pilot to attempt to crash the plane.
Captain Machchhar told Netanyahu that the co-pilot had asked to pray before the attack and that he recited the Hanuman Chalisa during the incident.
Flydubai has halted all flights to Israel, and Netanyahu said it was too early to determine if Iran was involved in the attack.
Background
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it is too early to determine if Iran was involved in the attack on a Flydubai flight bound for Israel.
What's confirmed
- Both Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the stabbed pilot, Indian national Capt Smit Machchhar was a "hero". India's ambassador to the UAE Deepak Mittal visited Captain Machhar in hospital on Thursday, the Indian Mission confirmed on social media, stating he was "in good health and recovering well". The Indian government has praised Smit Machchhar for his "immense courage" Preliminary findings from a separate Israeli investigation into the incident, suggest that the alleged attacker intended to crash the plane, an Israeli security source told BBC Arabic.
- “We are currently investigating whether he was sent by others, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said.
- The UAE on Thursday announced that it had launched an investigation into the incident, probing a possible “terrorist” link to the attack.
- Operator flydubai said all 174 passengers, including 166 Israelis, were safe.
- US President Donald Trump said it “seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job” after discussing the incident with Netanyahu.
- He made the remarks during a meeting with Netanyahu, in a video distributed by the Israeli premier’s office.
What's still developing
- Pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel were usually not allowed to fly there, Netanyahu said when asked about how the suspected Omani pilot came to be on the plane.
- Israel's Transportation Ministry said the suspension aligns with Netanyahu's directive.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says investigations suggest the man who stabbed his fellow pilot and tried to take over a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination".
- Flydubai passenger describes hugging his children as plane nosedived during attack Who is the 'hero' Indian pilot who was stabbed on Israel-bound flight?
- Netanyahu said 174 people were aboard, most of them Israeli.
- Flydubai said the underlying reasons for the event were unknown.
- Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Netanyahu, told Reuters that Israel would learn the identity of every pilot flying into the country.
- A second pair of flydubai pilots aboard landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- Passenger Almog Itali said it felt like a "rollercoaster" as Flight FZ1073 fell 17,000ft in less than two minutes "And with all the passengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think... that'll give us a pretty good clue."
- Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose".
- VIDEO | Jerusalem: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu invites PM Modi and Indian pilot Smit Machchhar to light celebratory flame on Israel’s next independence day. (Source: Israel PMO X account) (Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p ) https://t.co/nG6m5y1Stx Machchhar said the plane was flying normally when the co-pilot stood up to pray.
- “The co-pilot’s initial blows had completely blurred my vision,” he told Netanyahu.