Netanyahu: ‘Too early’ to determine Iranian involvement in flydubai attack, pilot confirmed as Omani citizen

Hours after Israeli passengers and the Indian pilot fought off the other pilot who attempted to crash a flydubai plane en route to Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump shared more details about the background and motivation of the attack, as the investigation continues.

Netanyahu emphasized that any possible Iranian involvement, as well as the attacker's exact plans, are still unknown.

After speaking on the phone with Netanyahu, Trump told reporters in the White House that the suspect, who CBS has confirmed is an Omani citizen, “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job.”

“It’s the most amazing story,” Trump said after retelling the account of the incident he had received from Netanyahu, particularly marveling at the actions of Yaniv Hayoun, whom he dubbed “the Israeli plumber.”

Asked whether the attacker planned to crash the plane into a building in Tel Aviv 9/11-style, he said, “They said [the pilot] wanted to crash the plane, but they don’t have that kind of information… but supposedly a plumber grabbed the [control] stick… pulled it up and leveled the plane.”

.@POTUS on the FlyDubai plane crash attempt: "It's the most amazing story." pic.twitter.com/SpGL4uXc4Z

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 30, 2026

In a Truth Social post later Wednesday, Trump also praised the “great” Boeing company that produced the plane, the “737 MAX, that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do.”

Netanyahu gave a series of interviews to American news outlets the same evening.

Speaking to CBS Evening News, he shared his initial assessment that the attack wasn’t an attempted hijacking with the intention of taking the plane somewhere else.

EXCLUSIVE: Sean Hannity presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on whether Iran could be connected to the attack aboard the Israel-bound Flydubai flight.

HANNITY: "Is there any indication as of now of any Iranian involvement in this incident?"

NETANYAHU: "It's too… pic.twitter.com/kSAYMedmU5

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 1, 2026

“I think it looks like a suicide attempt simply because of what this hero Yaniv described when he went in,” Netanyahu speculated. “This guy was trying to jam the equipment between the two flight seats, the pilot seats,” Netanyahu said of the attacker. “He wasn't sitting in the pilot seat trying to stabilize the plane, he was trying to jam the equipment.”

However, he told CNN and Fox News that the possibility of “another 9/11” attack was thwarted by the actions of the passengers. He also emphasized to Fox News that while the exact motivation of the attacker is unknown, “he obviously hated Israelis because he was going to kill about 170 of them… that is fanaticism and hatred on an incalculable level.”

The Omani national is currently being interrogated in Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu said on CBS, though he added that he might be transferred to Dubai. Israeli authorities will “join the interrogation and find out what happened there exactly,” he vowed.

Netanyahu wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the pilot had acted due to a mental health issue, also noting, “We've had signs that Iran, and particularly through its proxies, was intending to heighten terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli nationals abroad.”

“But I think it's too early to say whether there was Iranian collusion here. I think we'll find out, won't take a long time.”

Speaking to CNN, he also said that he “spoke again to President (Sheikh Mohammed) bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, and he agreed immediately that we should join the investigation. And we’ll find out.”

The UAE's Attorney-General announced he ordered an investigation into the incident and to determine whether the incident “was linked to any terrorist activity or involved prior planning or direction.”

Israel’s embassy to the Emirates expressed Israel’s “full confidence in the official investigation.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with CBS about the incredible heroism aboard the Flydubai flight to Israel that helped save 174 lives. pic.twitter.com/WV1rVzc6BG

— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 1, 2026

“We extend our deepest gratitude to the UAE leadership and local authorities for their immediate response and exceptional coordination… As emphasized by [Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar] and UAE [Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed], the Abraham Accords remain an unbreakable anchor of stability, and any attempt to undermine our shared future will fail. Israelis and Emiratis stand united against any form of extremism,” the embassy stated.

Netanyahu also spoke about the “anti-Israel propaganda” in some Western countries during his interview with Fox News, revealing that the UK government recently “slapped” sanctions against Israel within days of the Israeli intelligence sending a warning about possible Iranian-sponsored terror attacks in the UK.

“The caving-in, the collapse before the Islamist-Marxist alliance is very dangerous for the future of the West,” he emphasized.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who has been strongly criticized for his hostile moves against the Jewish State, again come under fire on Wednesday for his statement on the flydubai incident.

He wrote that he was “Deeply concerned about the incident that occurred on the Flydubai flight to Israel and very relieved that the plane landed safely thanks to the actions of those on board. All of my thoughts are with those injured in the attack and all those on the plane, as well as their families.”

“Mr. Foreign Secretary, you misspelled the word 'Terror,'” responded Oren Marmorstein, Head of the European Bureau at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.