Netanyahu says flydubai co-pilot underwent Islamist radical indoctrination

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the co-pilot who tried to crash a passenger jet on its way to Israel had undergone Islamist radicalisation.

“We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.

He also told “Fox & Friends” he would be able to say win a matter of days whether flydubai co-pilot had connections to Iran.

Earlier, three Israeli officials said that the co-pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was believed to have stabbed the captain in a possible attempted “terror attack”, forcing the plane to divert to Saudi Arabia where it landed safely.

They said the cabin crew entered the cockpit and took control of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Arabia as it flew over Jordanian airspace. One of the officials identified the attacker as an Omani national.

An Israeli official had earlier told the plane transmitted emergency signals after the pilots got into a physical altercation with each other.

The aircraft’s data appeared to show that it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before a first emergency signal was sent, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Around the time the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, said the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.

The Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment is that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots.

Omani authorities and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both pilots hospitalised, Tabuk airport says

In a video purportedly of an Israeli passenger on board the flydubai flight and carried widely by Israeli media, the passenger said one of pilots was seriously injured and the other was slightly injured, after one of the pilots was stabbed.

Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport, where the plane landed, said that both pilots had been hospitalised after sustaining injuries. Neither the airport nor the purported Israeli passenger identified the attacker.

The flight transmitted a general emergency signal and then another emergency signal that indicated possible unlawful interference, according to Flightradar24.

The Boeing 737 plane, which Israeli media said had around 150 Israeli passengers on board, then again transmitted the initial general emergency signal before later landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.

The incident heightened security fears in Israel weeks before Israelis vote in the first election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, with Israel’s security figuring prominently in the campaigning.

Responding to the incident on X, far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote “terrorism is a devil with whom no agreement must be reached”.

Conflicting reports appear in media, Israel holds security consultations

Israeli media published conflicting reports on the incident, with some outlets reporting that a pilot had tried to crash the passenger plane in an alleged suicide attempt. Some Israeli media outlets identified the pilots as Omani and Emirati nationals, while others said they were Russian and Ukrainian.

The incident triggered national security consultations in Israel, which has no official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed.

In an earlier statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that all measures were being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel.

Netanyahu who had held security consultations on the incident, has cleared his schedule for the rest of the day to manage the crisis, an Israeli official said.

Netanyahu on Sunday met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a a rare visit to the Gulf country. Israel and the UAE have forged close security, military and economic ties since establishing diplomatic ties in 2020.