Netanyahu says flydubai co-pilot underwent Islamist radical indoctrination

October 1, 2026 8:45 AM EDT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Yaniv Hayun, a passenger on the FlyDubai flight bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates, which was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal, at the Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, October 1,

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - ‌Israeli Prime ​Minister ​Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the co-pilot who tried to crash ‌a passenger jet on its way to ⁠Israel had undergone Islamist radicalization.

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

No motive has been determined for Wednesday's harrowing near-disaster ​on Wednesday's flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when passengers were able ⁠to subdue the attacker and a reserve crew aboard landed the ​plane in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu told "Fox & Friends" he would be able to say within ​a matter of days ‌whether the flydubai co-pilot had connections to Iran.

"I think it's too early ⁠to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with any anyone else," he said.

Netanyahu said ⁠it was clear that the co-pilot was suicidal.

"If you ​couple that with the what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalization that are found ‌in his background, I think that's - that'll give us the a pretty ‌good clue," he said. "But again, I don't make ⁠final conclusions yet. ‌But that's the ​indications we have now."

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Philippa ‌Fletcher)



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