Netanyahu cautious on culprit as flydubai suspends Israel flights after cockpit attack

A co-pilot stabbed the captain on a flydubai aircraft bound for Tel Aviv on Wednesday, setting off a sequence of events that turned ordinary passengers into the last line of defense between the plane and catastrophe. The flight carried more than 170 people, most of them Israeli citizens traveling from Dubai. When the stabbing began on the flight deck, the aircraft was already descending sharply—the attacker had apparently seized the controls in an attempt to crash the plane. What followed was a desperate intervention. Passengers heard screaming and felt the cabin pressure shift as the aircraft lost altitude. Several of them forced their way into the cockpit, overpowered the attacker, and managed to stabilize the plane before it could impact the ground. The flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, in the northwestern city of Tabuk.

The captain, identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national from Mumbai, had been stabbed multiple times but made the emergency call and opened the cockpit door, enabling the passengers to rush in. He is now hospitalized in Tabuk with serious injuries. One passenger, Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, described to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu how he heard the screaming, felt the pressure change, and then forced his way forward. "I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and dragged him out first," Hayoun recounted. He then grabbed the controls and pulled them the way he had seen on television, before crew members took over and brought the aircraft under control. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi called Machchhar a hero, saying that despite his grave injuries, he showed "immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others."

Israeli officials identified the attacker as an Omani national, though neither Oman nor the UAE issued public comment on the identification. The suspect is currently being questioned by Saudi authorities, with Netanyahu saying he expected the man would soon be transferred to the UAE, where the flight originated. Netanyahu told Fox News host Sean Hannity that investigators would determine "whether he had accomplices," but he cautioned that it was "too early to say" when asked if there were signs of Iranian involvement. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, struck a more definitive tone on Wednesday evening, telling Fox News that Israel had "no doubt that it was a terror attack from a radical individual." However, Danon added a crucial qualifier: "We still cannot link it to a terror state or terror organisation, but for sure we know there was an intention to bring that plane down." The Israeli foreign ministry later instructed its diplomats worldwide that the incident was an "attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords"—the 2020 normalization agreement between Israel and the UAE.

Flydubai announced it would suspend all flights to and from Israel while the investigation proceeds, urging all parties to "refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts." The airline's decision reflects the gravity of the incident and the uncertainty still surrounding the attacker's motives and any potential connections to organized groups or state actors. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after a conversation with Netanyahu, described the co-pilot as "perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job," underscoring the ambiguity that still defines the case.

What remains unresolved is whether the attacker acted alone or as part of a coordinated operation, and whether any state or organization directed or encouraged the attempt. Netanyahu's caution against drawing conclusions too quickly—his refusal to confirm Iranian involvement despite the question being posed—suggests Israeli intelligence has not yet established a clear chain of command or motive beyond the individual act itself. The investigation in Saudi Arabia, with Israeli participation, will likely determine whether the stabbing was the work of a single radicalized individual or something more organized. For now, the story is one of passengers and crew who prevented a potential mass casualty event through quick thinking and physical courage, even as officials work to understand what drove the man in the cockpit to attempt what he did.