Timing of flydubai flight incident particularly sensitive: Israeli envoy Reuven Azar

New Delhi: Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Thursday raised questions over the timing of the flydubai flight incident and said they need to wait for the investigation’s results to determine the motive.

In an interview with IANS, Azar said that the incident took place ahead of the upcoming polls, the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the UAE, where he spoke to leaders of the region.

Asked whether Israel has established any possible motive behind the incident, Azar responded, “We don’t know yet. We will have to wait for the results of the investigation. But the timing of this incident is particularly sensitive. We have elections coming up in Israel, and we are commemorating the third year since the terrible massacre of October 7.”

“This incident also came only two or three days after the reported visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu to the UAE and his reported meetings with leaders of the region to discuss exactly these kinds of situations; how we can confront terrorism and attacks by Iran’s terrorist proxies in our region. I have no doubt that this incident will intensify the cooperation we have in the region against terrorism,” he added.

The co-pilot of a flydubai flight, which was carrying over 170 passengers, on Wednesday, tried to sabotage the aircraft and later stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar, who was trying to prevent him from doing so.

At the time, the Boeing 737, cruising at about 34,000 feet, began dropping at roughly 23,000 feet per minute before reaching about 15,600 feet. However, Machchhar fought back the co-pilot, resisted him, and opened the cockpit door so that passengers and crew members could overpower him.

He hailed Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of the flydubai flight, who was injured after helping avert a major in-flight crisis, terming it an “amazing example” of how the people of the two nations can fight terrorism together and not surrender to terrorists.

On how he sees the role of the Indian pilot and the passengers in this incident, he said, “…We know that in order to fight terrorism, it is not enough for governments to work together. It is essential that people work together as well, as we saw yesterday. I think this is an amazing example of how we can determine our destiny by being involved, by not surrendering to terrorists and by working together at a personal level. And this is exactly what happened yesterday.”

When asked whether there could be any Iranian connection to the incident, he said, “We don’t know yet. We will have to wait and see. We have to be very careful with information at this stage. I’m sure the attacker will be thoroughly investigated, and perhaps we will learn more in the coming days.”

Reuven Azar said that Israel’s security agencies will look into the issue and draw conclusions from information provided by regional intelligence agencies, civil aviation authorities and others.

On the kind of measures that Israel will take in view of this incident, he said, “I’m sure our security agencies will look deeply into the issue and draw conclusions from information provided by regional intelligence agencies, civil aviation authorities and others. They will try to determine how we can improve our protocols in order to prevent events like this from happening again.”

Asked whether he is aware of the background and motive of the Omani pilot and if there is any indication of connection with Hamas, Reuven Azar said, “We don’t know yet. We will have to wait patiently until we see the results of the investigation.”

Reuven Azar said he is not aware whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, have spoken about the incident, but added that the counter-terrorism agencies of the two nations remain in close contact.

When asked whether PM Modi and PM Netanyahu have spoken about the incident, he responded, “I am not aware that the leaders have spoken to each other at this point in time. I think we continue to be in close contact. Our counter-terrorism agencies are in constant dialogue, and I’m sure that whether it is at the highest level, or at the medium and operational levels, we will share information and continue working together to create a situation in which we do everything needed to fight terrorism.”

Earlier, PM Modi hailed Captain Smit Machchhar for his bravery, calling him a “hero” who showed “immense courage” and “unwavering resolve” to save the lives of those on board.

Similarly, PM Netanyahu described the Indian pilot as a “true hero” and praised his “extraordinary bravery”. In a statement issued through the Prime Minister’s Office on X, Netanyahu said Captain Machchhar was stabbed and seriously injured during the incident but fought back and continued to act to protect those on board. The Israeli Prime Minister also wished Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery.

On the evidence gathered by Israel so far about the incident, he said, “We are learning as we go. Not many hours have passed since the incident started. As we receive more information, it will help us assess the situation and learn from the incident so that we can adjust our protocols and make sure that the possibility of such incidents is brought to a minimum.”

IANS