Israeli courage faced radical Islamic hatred in the sky over the Middle East on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.
The co-pilot of a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv stabbed the pilot and apparently sought to crash the plane until passengers overpowered him and other crew members were able to avert a crash.
Netanyahu said the co-pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” according to CNN, citing a Fox News interview.
“That appears to be something we’re gathering from his personal information,” Netanyahu said
Netanyahu said that it was too early to determine if the Omani citizen had links to Iran.
He also noted that the co-pilot said “kill me” after passengers overpowered him.
“It’s clear he was suicidal, that’s not a question,” Netanyahu said, adding that it “looks very likely” that his goal was to crash the plane.
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“I don’t know the exact background of this person, the attacker, but he obviously hated Israelis because he was going to kill about 170 of them on this plane, killing himself, too,” the prime minister said, according to Fox News.
“That’s fanaticism and hatred of an incalculable level,” he said.
On the flip side, he said, was the heroism of passengers led by Yaniv Chayon.
“The passengers, including 30 children, are already saying their prayers. They know they’re gone from this world. And this young man just acts with incredible, incredible heroism and saves the day,” Netanyahu said.
“He acted with coolness of judgment and heroism… just tremendous courage that prevented another 9/11.”
“I met with this Israeli, this unbelievable Israeli. His name is Yaniv, who did this thing,” he said. “And I asked him, ‘How did you do it?’ And he said, ‘Well, I just had to do it.’”
“His family was there, 174 passengers, most of whom were Israelis, were there. He had to save them,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu noted that the pilot, identified as Smit Machchhar, was a hero as well.
“He was bleeding profusely. The plane began to go out of control and began a nosedive,” Netanyahu said The pilot who was there was an Indian pilot with sort of a very badly wounded. He’s fighting, I think, for his life right now, but in an act of unbelievable courage, he managed to unlock the door to the cockpit.”
That allowed passengers to see what was taking place, leading to their charge that regained control of the plane.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
