Gulf

Katz Says Jihadist Terror, Netanyahu Says Too Early: How Israel and the UAE Handled the Flydubai Cockpit Attack

Katz called the flydubai cockpit attack jihadist terror, Netanyahu said it was too early to say, and the UAE readout named no motive. How each statement fits.

A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 at Krakow airport in August 2024. File photo; not taken during the 30 September flight.Photo: Bahnfrend / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Silent Dossier Editorial DeskOctober 1, 20266 min read

In this article

Context

On Wednesday, 30 September, a co-pilot on flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv stabbed the captain and, according to Israeli officials, tried to crash the Boeing 737 MAX 8 with 174 people aboard. Passengers and crew overpowered him, and a second pair of flydubai pilots travelling on the flight landed the jet at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. Within hours, Israel’s defense minister called it terrorism, its prime minister said it was too early to name anyone behind it, and the United Arab Emirates published a phone readout that did not use the word.

The incident came three days after Netanyahu’s unannounced trip to Abu Dhabi, where Iran had warned “all countries of the region” about the consequences. The statements below show where each government drew the line between what it knew and what it was willing to say.

Key takeaways

Israel’s defense minister and foreign ministry called the event an attack within hours. The prime minister, the airline and the UAE did not. Netanyahu says he cannot answer the Iran question until the interrogation of the suspect ends, and that Abu Dhabi has agreed Israel may join it. The suspect is held in Saudi Arabia, which had not commented in the reports reviewed. India’s leaders spoke about the captain.

What was said

Defense Minister Israel Katz went first and went furthest. In a statement carried by the Times of Israel on 30 September, he said the incident “was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers.” He added that “according to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry used the same category. i24NEWS reported that the ministry described a terror attack aimed at Israelis, the UAE and the Abraham Accords, the 2020 normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab states. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered a global briefing for Israeli diplomats. The ministry’s line: “Terrorism will not undermine the strong relations between Israel and the UAE or regional developments.”

Netanyahu was more careful, speaking to CNN. In the account Axios reported, he said the pilots “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster, because that’s what it looks like was happening.” Asked whether Iran was involved, he said it was “too early to say” who was behind the attack, and that the suspect was being investigated in Saudi Arabia. He told CNN, in remarks carried by Yahoo News, that he had spoken with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, who agreed that Israel would join the questioning of the suspect. “So we’ll find out very soon if Iran had anything to do with it,” Netanyahu said, “but I can’t say that in advance of the conclusion of the interrogation.”

President Donald Trump spoke in the East Room of the White House the same day, according to the Jerusalem Post. “I did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event,” he said. “It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.” He then relayed Netanyahu’s account of an Israeli passenger, a plumber, who took the controls and levelled the aircraft, and added: “Now this is the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true.”

The UAE spoke through its foreign ministry. A Gulf News readout of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s call with Sa’ar says the two discussed “bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to strengthen them” and “the overall developments in the region.” Sheikh Abdullah asked after the passengers’ health and sent greetings to their families. The readout names no motive and does not mention an investigation role for Israel.

Flydubai suspended all flights to and from Israel and said the underlying reasons remained unknown, urging against “premature speculation”. On the ground, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia turned down an Israeli request to let its planes bring the Israeli passengers home, citing two security sources. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond. The passengers flew home on another flydubai flight.

India’s statements concerned the captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national who was stabbed and underwent surgery. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy. India is proud of Captain Machchhar.” Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, said that the captain’s “extraordinary courage and remarkable presence of mind, even in the face of grave danger, saved hundreds of lives.”

Analysis

How the statements connect

Set the statements in order of certainty. Katz says the attacker had one intention. The Foreign Ministry says terror. Netanyahu says “apparently” and “too early.” Trump offers two possibilities, terrorist or “whack job,” and says he does not know if the story is true. Flydubai says the reasons are unknown. The Emirati readout says nothing about cause. The facts that are public are narrow. An Omani official told CBS News that the attacker was born in Oman and holds Omani citizenship. An Israeli security official told CBS that authorities were examining whether this was a September 11 style attack and whether he acted alone. No government has published a motive.

On Iran, Netanyahu gave no link and no denial. After his Abu Dhabi visit on 27 September, Iran’s Foreign Ministry had warned the region of “highly dangerous consequences.” He now says an answer will come “very soon” and that he cannot give it before the interrogation ends.

Ynet reported that Transportation Minister Miri Regev claimed flydubai had broken agreements by assigning an Omani pilot to an Israel-bound flight when the two countries have no diplomatic relations. The same ynet piece noted that most flydubai pilots are not Emirati and come from countries around the world, and asked what screening the suspect had passed. Regev’s vetting complaint is aimed at an Emirati airline, in the same days that Netanyahu says an Emirati president agreed to let Israel into the questioning.

The two accounts of that agreement differ in what they contain. Netanyahu’s names Sheikh Mohamed and the interrogation. The Emirati readout of the foreign ministers’ call names neither. The suspect is in Saudi custody, and the one Saudi action reported so far is the refusal of the Israeli request for aircraft, which Reuters sourced to two security officials.

What to watch

Three markers will settle the reading. The first is who leads the investigation: the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority has said it is investigating, Saudi Arabia holds the suspect, and Netanyahu says Israel will “possibly” take part. The second is whether Emirati officials confirm, in their own words, any Israeli role in the questioning. The third is whether flydubai restores its Israel flights, which would show the UAE treating this as a one-off and the Abraham Accords as intact.

If Saudi or Emirati investigators publish a motive that has nothing to do with Iran or organised terrorism, Katz’s “jihadist” label will have run ahead of the evidence. If they confirm a link to a group or a state, the line the prime minister, the airline and the Emirati foreign ministry held will have been the careful one.