In first, senior UAE official calls flydubai plane attack an ‘act of terrorism’

Anwar Gargash, an adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, on Friday described the attempted crashing of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv earlier in the week as an “act of terrorism,” becoming the first senior Emirati official to publicly characterize the incident in those terms.

In a post on X, Gargash praised Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed several times by his Omani copilot as part of the latter’s alleged attempt to crash the plane. Machchhar still managed to open the cockpit door, allowing three Israeli passengers to rush in and subdue the attack before off-duty airmen — who happened to be on the plane — were able to conduct an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Gargash wrote that Machchhar deserved recognition because he “showed the meaning of courage when he confronted a dangerous and potentially catastrophic act of terrorism.”

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He also warned against “simplistic interpretations” and conspiracy theories surrounding the incident, saying vigilance was essential in confronting the dangers posed by extremism and terrorism.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Emirati government told Channel 12 that Abu Dhabi feels the Israeli government is exploiting the attempted terror attack for political purposes.

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The source said Israel is responsible for stopping continued flydubai services and that labeling repatriation flights by Israeli carriers as “rescue flights” misrepresents the UAE as “a country where there is war or a crisis, and that’s not the case.”

“The Emiratis do not understand Israel’s conduct, and their feeling is that the election is driving the matter, not logic,” the source is quoted by Channel 12 as having said.

“They [the Emiratis] are constructive, conducting a parallel investigation and wanting to resolve the crisis, while Israel is dragging its feet and creating obstacles,” the source claimed.

The source noted that Etihad, another UAE carrier that flies to Abu Dhabi, is continuing services, “while enforcing a strict protocol,” and says those rules should be applied to flydubai too.

Following the tweet by Gargash, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video statement in which he declared that, “As more time goes by, the picture is becoming clearer.”

“Yaniv and his hero friends prevented a September 11-like disaster,” said the prime minister, referring to Yaniv Hayun, one of the Israelis who allegedly helped subdue the copilot. Netanyahu met with Hayun after the incident. “The perpetrator went through Islamist radicalization.”

The copilot, Netanyahu said, “came to crash the plane along with its passengers.”

“We are clarifying right now if he was sent,” he added. “And whoever sent him will pay a heavy price.”

A source briefed on the investigation told Reuters later on Friday that Israeli officials are expected to question the Omani copilot.

An Israeli government official told Reuters that Israeli investigators would take part in the UAE-led investigation alongside Emirati authorities, seeking to determine what happened and examine the suspect’s motives and background.

The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Israeli officials would question the co-pilot.

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel will be able to conclusively state within the coming days whether the co-pilot had any links to Iran, after also acknowledging during an earlier Fox interview “it’s too early to say.”

US President Donald Trump similarly said he believed Tehran may have been involved, based on information he had received, while stressing that the matter was still under investigation. It was unclear whether Trump had received intelligence or been briefed on the ongoing probe into the flydubai incident.

Although the investigation into the incident was ongoing and a clear motive had yet to be established, Israel reportedly believed as of Thursday that the copilot was a “lone wolf” attacker.

Saudi Arabia said Thursday that its initial investigation confirmed the basic facts of Wednesday’s incident: that the copilot of the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv assaulted the captain while the plane was over Saudi Arabia, forcing it to make an emergency landing in the Saudi city of Tabuk.

The flight was carrying around 180 passengers, nearly all of them Israeli. After passengers and crew subdued the attacker, two other pilots aboard the aircraft took control and landed it safely.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said in its first public comment on the incident that Saudi and Emirati security teams had jointly conducted the preliminary investigation.

Saudi authorities subsequently transferred the Omani copilot to the United Arab Emirates as the investigation continued. Israeli officials reportedly view the transfer as facilitating greater Israeli cooperation with investigators in the UAE.

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