Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday praised one of the passengers who helped thwart the apparent attempt to crash a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv earlier in the day, telling him he deserved a “global medal of honor,” as Israel prepared to join the investigation into the dramatic midair incident.

“You are a hero. You deserve a global medal of honor,” Netanyahu told Yaniv Hayun during a meeting at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, hours after Hayun and the other passengers returned to Israel.

Hayun was one of three Israeli passengers who rushed into the cockpit of Flight FZ1073 after the co-pilot stabbed the captain and apparently attempted to crash the Boeing 737 carrying 174 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

In an interview with CNN, Netanyahu said Israel would participate in the investigation and that it remained too early to determine whether Iran was connected to the attack.

“What we know is [that he is] an Omani national,” Netanyahu said of the co-pilot.

Netanyahu said he had spoken with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, 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, but I can’t say that in advance of the conclusion of the interrogation,” he added.

The suspect remained in Saudi custody following the emergency landing at Tabuk Airport and was expected to be transferred to the United Arab Emirates.

Netanyahu said Israel had received intelligence indicating that Iran and its proxies could seek to attack Israelis ahead of the Oct. 27 election, but stressed that there had been no specific warning about the flydubai flight.

“What we had is a lot of information streaming in that Iran’s proxies, in particular Hezbollah and Hamas, were planning attacks against Israel and Israeli civilians abroad,” he said. “But I can’t tell you that we had any specific warning about this.”

‘They managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster’

Netanyahu offered new details of the extraordinary sequence aboard the aircraft in an interview with CNN. He said Capt. Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was stabbed and seriously wounded by the co-pilot, showed “incredible heroism” by managing to unlock the cockpit door despite his injuries, allowing passengers to enter.

“The Israeli passenger burst in, saw the attacking co-pilot hover over the instruments,” Netanyahu said. “He wasn’t sitting in one of the two pilot seats, but he was trying to jam the instruments.”

Hayun said that when he entered the cockpit, he found Machchhar on the floor and the alleged attacker between the two pilot seats.

“When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats,” recounted Hayun.

Hayun grabbed the attacker, put him in a choke hold and pulled him from the cockpit as other passengers and crew members helped restrain him.

The aircraft plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than a minute according to flight-tracking data.

Hayun then returned to the cockpit.

“I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls,” he said.

Asked by Netanyahu how he knew what to do, Hayun replied that he had watched “Air Crash Investigation,” a television documentary series about aviation disasters.

“The plane started leveling out a little more, and then the pilot told me he was taking over from there,” said Hayun.

Two additional flydubai pilots who were traveling aboard the aircraft then entered the cockpit, took control of the plane and ultimately landed it safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

“The amazing heroism here of the Indian pilot, the Israeli passenger and his colleagues, and those pilots managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster, because that’s what it looks like was happening,” Netanyahu told CNN.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Machchhar in a post on X on Thursday.

"Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO," Modi wrote. "In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others."

Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO.

In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others.

His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy.

India is proud of…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 1, 2026

‘Life is stronger than everything’

Hayun was joined in confronting the alleged attacker by Israeli passengers Assaf Rajwan and Tzvika Manes.

“We kept the terrorist neutralized for 55 minutes, and we landed safely,” Rajwan told Israel's Channel 12 News. “Life is stronger than everything, and we decided to fight for it."

Manes told Channel 12 that his wife, who had accompanied their young daughter to the bathroom near the front of the aircraft, heard screams and a struggle in the cockpit.

The wounded Machchhar then fell through the cockpit doorway as the aircraft began plunging, Manes recalled. He pulled his daughter from the bathroom before joining Hayun and Rajwan in confronting the attacker.

Manes recalled hearing his daughters screaming, “We don’t want to die,” as the aircraft descended.

The three used corded headphones to bind the suspect. Meanwhile, Israeli dentist Dr. Shota Musayev treated Machchhar, stopping his bleeding and helping stabilize him.

Netanyahu separately praised Machchhar as a “true hero.”

“My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery,” Netanyahu said. “Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker—preventing a catastrophic midair disaster.”

“He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” he added.

Six hours in Saudi Arabia

After landing at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the passengers were met by Saudi medical and security personnel.

Some passengers initially refused to board another flydubai aircraft to return home. Israel sought to send an Israeli aircraft to collect them, but Saudi authorities did not permit it.

After checks were carried out on the replacement crew, the passengers agreed to board. The rescue flight arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday evening, with passengers cheering and singing as they touched down.

One passenger, Lital Shahar, who was traveling with her four daughters, described two circumstances that she believed saved those aboard.

“There were two miracles—that Israelis were on the plane who heroically went into the cockpit... and that there were off-duty pilots onboard who could land the plane in Saudi Arabia,” she said.

The motive for the attack remained under investigation on Thursday.

Netanyahu said the suspect’s nationality and the broader regional context inevitably raised questions but stressed that no conclusion could yet be drawn about Iranian involvement.

“We know that Iran is sponsoring a lot of this,” he said, “but I can’t speak specifically of this.”

Herzog recommends four Israelis for heroism award

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he would recommend four Israelis who helped avert disaster aboard the flydubai flight for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, Israel’s highest civilian award for heroism.

Herzog spoke on Wednesday with Yaniv Hayoun, Asaf Rajwan, Dr. Shota Musayev and Zvika Manes, praising their actions after the pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot and the aircraft began plunging.

“At a time when the lives of so many people were in danger, you acted without hesitation, with courage, resourcefulness and extraordinary mutual responsibility,” Herzog told them. “You put yourselves at risk to save others and prevented a terrible disaster.”

“Today, the whole world saw the beautiful and courageous face of Israeli society. I am proud of you, and I thank you on behalf of the State of Israel.”

Herzog said he would bring their cases before the advisory committee for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism and recommend that all four receive the honor.

The president also praised the Indian captain who fought the attacker despite being seriously wounded and managed to open the cockpit door.

“I extend my gratitude and deep appreciation, on behalf of the State of Israel, to the Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, whose determination and actions made it possible to subdue the attacker and saved many lives,” Herzog said.

Musayev, the Israeli dentist who treated the wounded captain aboard the aircraft, told Herzog that the rescue had been a collective effort.

“It wasn’t only my heroism. Everyone who was there and came near the cockpit was part of it,” he said. “We were all heroes. All the passengers were heroes.”

Rajwan told Herzog that his reaction had been instinctive.

“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to,” he said. “But it was all instinct: to survive, to save the family, the people and the children.”