Defense Minister Israel Katz raised new questions Wednesday over whether Israel had advance intelligence relevant to the suspected attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, saying shortly after declaring the incident a “jihadist terrorist attack” that warnings recently issued by himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been based on intelligence.
“When the prime minister and I issue security warnings and alerts based on intelligence, everyone would do well, both our enemies abroad and uninformed former officials at home, to listen and take them seriously,” Katz said.
His remarks came one day after Netanyahu said Israel had “indications” that its enemies could try to attack ahead of the upcoming election.
Katz did not say whether those intelligence warnings included specific information about an aviation threat, Flydubai or Flight FZ1073, or whether authorities had received advance information about the suspected attacker.
The remarks nevertheless add a new question to the investigation into Wednesday’s dramatic incident: whether the broad warnings issued by Israel’s political leadership were connected in any way to what unfolded aboard the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, and if so, what preparations were made in response.
Netanyahu’s statement Tuesday had also been broad. “We have indications that, ahead of the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” he said during a visit to the Tel Nof Air Force Base, without identifying a specific organization, country or type of attack.
Katz: ‘One intention: to crash the aircraft’
Katz on Wednesday described the Flydubai incident in unequivocal terms.
“The serious incident on the Flydubai aircraft was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack that was thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and with their own hands returned control of the aircraft to an additional flight crew that was present there,” he said.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Katz
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers.”
Katz added that the government’s security warnings were not a substitute for military action.
“Every warning has several addresses and purposes,” he said. “Most importantly, the warnings never come at the expense of the proactive and offensive activity we are leading together with the IDF against every threat, and they are no substitute for it.”
Flydubai, however, cautioned against reaching conclusions about the motive while the investigation is still underway.
“At this early stage, the causes and motives behind the incident are unknown and remain subject to an official investigation,” the airline said. “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while the authorities gather the facts.”
The airline’s position leaves a clear gap between Israel’s current assessment of the incident and Flydubai’s official account. Israeli officials increasingly describe the episode as an attempted terrorist attack, while the carrier says investigators have yet to establish its cause or motive.
Rescue flight cleared after Mossad checks
All Israeli passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia were aboard a Flydubai rescue flight that departed Tabuk for Israel.
The aircraft took off after the Mossad completed background checks on the rescue crew and cleared the flight for departure.
Israeli Flydubai passengers sing ‘Don’t be afraid’ on flight home
Magen David Adom teams, together with medical staff at Ben Gurion Airport, were placed on standby with mobile intensive care units and ambulances to receive the passengers arriving from Saudi Arabia.
MDA said its paramedics would assess the passengers upon arrival and provide medical treatment if needed.
At the same time, Saudi authorities refused permission for a separately chartered Israeli aircraft to enter the kingdom to collect passengers who were unwilling to board another Flydubai plane.
“They’re starting to put us on the plane,” one passenger told ynet.
The rescue flight was expected to land at Ben Gurion Airport between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Some passengers had refused to board the Flydubai aircraft, saying they were afraid to fly with the airline following the incident.
Investigators examine cockpit axe
Israeli investigators are continuing to reconstruct what happened inside the cockpit and how the violent confrontation began.
An initial investigation has raised the possibility that an emergency axe stored in the cockpit and intended for breaking a window was used during the struggle.
Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia
(Photo: AFP)
One possibility being examined is that the captain used the axe against the suspected attacker while trying to prevent him from crashing the plane.
Investigators have apparently ruled out an earlier possibility that the suspected attacker brought an axe aboard the aircraft, since flight crews undergo strict security screening before boarding.
But they are also examining the opposite scenario: that the suspected attacker himself used the cockpit axe against the captain who tried to stop him.
The precise sequence remains under investigation.
‘We tied him up with headphone cords’
Passenger accounts have meanwhile provided new details about how the suspect was eventually restrained.
Zvika Manes, CEO of Bank Leumi underwriting company Barak Capital Underwriting and one of three passengers he said helped overpower the suspect, told Kan 11 that they tied him up using cables from the multimedia headphones distributed aboard the aircraft.
Manes said passengers began realizing something was wrong when his wife went toward the restroom with their daughter and heard a confrontation coming from the cockpit.
Netanyahu also said he had spoken with one of the Israeli passengers involved in stopping the suspected attacker.
“During the flight, as they approached Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone aboard,” Netanyahu said.
He said the passenger told him the aircraft entered a spin and began plunging.
“He told me that, somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they subdued the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the aircraft’s systems,” Netanyahu said.
Another member of the flight crew then entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the aircraft, according to Netanyahu.
“I salute these heroes, who showed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage,” he said. “They saved many lives. They prevented a major disaster.”
Netanyahu said the suspected attacker had been arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities. AP also reported Wednesday that the aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk following the violent cockpit incident and that the suspect was detained as authorities investigated.
Pressure to suspend Flydubai flights
Transportation Minister Miri Regev has asked Netanyahu to immediately suspend Flydubai flights to Israel until the circumstances of the incident are clarified.
Regev said the airline had violated the aviation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which she said allows only pilots from countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel to land in Israel.
An Israeli official said the Omani pilot suspected in the incident had never previously landed in Israel.
A Transportation Ministry official called the episode a “mega-event,” saying: “We came very close to a major disaster that was prevented.”
Regev is also demanding that Israeli airlines be permitted to resume flights to Dubai with Israeli security screening. Israeli carriers are currently unable to operate the route because of a dispute over security arrangements.
The incident also produced an immediate reaction on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, with shares in El Al and Israir rising sharply amid expectations that some Israeli travelers could shift toward domestic carriers.
For investigators, however, the most consequential unanswered questions now extend beyond exactly what happened inside the cockpit. Katz’s reference to intelligence-based warnings puts a second issue into focus: what Israeli authorities knew before FZ1073 took off, whether any of that intelligence concerned a threat of this kind and, if it did, what was done with it.