Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday (October 1) that the co-pilot who tried to crash a passenger jet on its way to Israel had undergone Islamist radicalization.

"It looks like he had been radicalized. I think it's too early to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with any anyone else, "Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.

No motive has been determined for Wednesday's harrowing near-disaster on Wednesday's flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when passengers were able to subdue the attacker and a reserve crew aboard landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu told "Fox & Friends" he would be able to say within a matter of days whether the flydubai co-pilot had connections to Iran.

Netanyahu said it was clear that the co-pilot was suicidal.

"He's lying there now, he – this attacker. He calls out to the air crew. ‘Kill me, kill me.’ All right, so it's clear he was suicidal," he said. "It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane and with all the passengers in there.”

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 1, 2026) (FOX NEWS CHANNEL "FOX AND FRIENDS" - Mandatory on-air and on-screen credit to “FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S FOX AND FRIENDS”. No obstruction of Fox bug. No more than two minutes use allowed. No archive. No reuse. No resale.)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (SPEAKING WITH FOX & FRIENDS HOSTS IN NY IN TWO SHOT FROM UNSPECIFIED LOCATION) SAYING:

“Because, you know, passengers go through a metal detector. But I'm not sure that pilots always do it because, you know, you say, okay, who's part of the air crew? Let them go. Number one. And then he could have carried a knife or an ax, or he might have gotten an ax, from the, equipment in the, you know, that might be standard on this airplane.

We're looking into that, so I can't draw conclusions yet, but it looks like. I mean, it's really, it looks like he had been radicalized. I think it's too early to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with any anyone else. That's too early to say that. But we'll be able to say that very definitely, I think very fairly definitively, not fairly.

I think we'll be able to say definitively within a matter of days.”

2. WHITE FLASH

UNSPECIFIED LOCATION (OCTOBER 1, 2026) (FOX NEWS CHANNEL "FOX AND FRIENDS" - Mandatory on-air and on-screen credit to “FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S FOX AND FRIENDS”. No obstruction of Fox bug. No more than two minutes use allowed. No archive. No reuse. No resale.)

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING:

“And then he's lying there now, he – this attacker. He calls out to the, to the air crew. ‘Kill me, kill me.’ All right, so it's clear he was suicidal. That's not a question. It was clear he was going to down that plane. No, it's not clear, but it looks very likely that he was going to down the plane and with all the passengers in there.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING:

“The passengers next to the cockpit were saying that there screaming going on this. There's a stabbing going on.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 1, 2026) (FOX NEWS CHANNEL "FOX AND FRIENDS" - Mandatory on-air and on-screen credit to “FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S FOX AND FRIENDS”. No obstruction of Fox bug. No more than two minutes use allowed. No archive. No reuse. No resale.)

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (SPEAKING WITH FOX & FRIENDS HOSTS IN NY IN TWO SHOT FROM UNSPECIFIED LOCATION) SAYING:

“These are ordinary civilians, you know, Israeli citizens who became heroes, superheroes. I mean, one guy over overcame the attacker. The others helped tie him up. The guy, a doctor came in. He's a dentist, by the way, to take care of the Indian pilot. But, then he told his wife, go back and calm the passengers. So she she herself just overcame her fear she was going to die and calmed the passengers. And another one guarded the cockpit so no one comes in.

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (SPEAKING WITH FOX & FRIENDS HOSTS IN NY IN TWO SHOT FROM UNSPECIFIED LOCATION) SAYING:

“They’re superheroes and they saved the day.”