Israel investigating alleged attempted crash of Flydubai plane

Israel is investigating whether the alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai plane on Wednesday was sponsored and will make potential perpetrators pay a "high price", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.

“The more time passes, the more the situation becomes clearer: the attacker suffered Islamist radicalization. He intended to crash the plane with its passengers,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to the co-pilot of the plane accused of stabbing the captain before steering the plane towards the ground.

“We are checking as part of the investigation whether it was sent by someone” and, if so, “they will pay a high price,” he added in a video address. Israeli authorities say that only the intervention of Israeli passengers who overpowered and tied up the co-pilot made it possible to avoid the crash of Flight 1073.

Suspicions without supporting evidence

The head of the Israeli government did not present any evidence to support his suspicions on Friday, and did not say whether they related to an organization or a country. On Thursday, he affirmed that the co-pilot, detained and interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, was a “radicalized” Omani national.

In an interview with the American channel Fox News on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu spontaneously questioned the hypothesis of Iranian involvement, while believing that it was “too early” to say so.