Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday (October 1, 2026) that the suspect who allegedly tried to crash a flydubai flight to Israel had undergone “Islamist, radical indoctrination” and gave no details.

Asked who helped radicalise the man, he said he did not know and that Israel was cooperating with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) investigation. In a separate statement, he said it was too early to say whether Iran was involved, but repeated the accusation of Islamist radical indoctrination. Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was reportedly in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight.