President Donald Trump said that he personally believes Iran was behind the attack.
By United with Israel Staff
The terrorist accused of attempting to bring down an Israel-bound Flydubai passenger plane told investigators that he acted in revenge for the war in Gaza and wanted to die as an Islamic martyr, according to new details reported by Israel’s Channel 12.
“I did it as revenge for Gaza. I wanted to die as a shahid,” the co-pilot reportedly told investigators.
In a significant development, Israel’s military censor cleared for publication Monday evening that the Shin Bet is directly involved in the investigation, as Israeli authorities seek to determine whether the attacker acted alone or was recruited or directed by an outside party.
The investigation is focusing in part on a series of brief trips the terrorist made in recent years to countries hostile to Israel, including countries officially considered enemy states.
According to Channel 12, a Mossad representative briefed ministers on the findings during a security cabinet meeting Sunday.
“We discovered that in recent years the terrorist visited countries hostile to Israel, some of them enemy states,” the Mossad representative reportedly told ministers, according to two sources who attended the meeting.
“These were brief visits. We are investigating whether during these visits someone or some organization activated or recruited him.”
No evidence establishing that another country or organization directed the attack has yet been made public.
President Donald Trump, however, said Monday that he personally believes Iran was behind the attack.
“I do. I personally do,” Trump responded when asked by a reporter whether he believed Iran was responsible.
The new revelations come nearly a week after the attempted attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
The co-pilot allegedly attacked the Indian captain during the flight and attempted to bring down the aircraft, which rapidly lost altitude during the struggle.
The captain was seriously wounded, but passengers and crew members intervened and subdued the attacker. Additional Flydubai pilots aboard the aircraft then helped regain control of the plane, which was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and landed safely.
Defense Minister Israel Katz subsequently described the incident as an “attempted jihadist terror attack” and said preliminary information indicated that the attacker intended to crash the plane with everyone aboard.
“The serious incident on the Flydubai plane was an attempted jihadist terror attack, which was thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, returned control of the aircraft to an additional flight crew that was present,” Katz said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination” and praised the passengers and crew members who helped overpower him.
The United Arab Emirates has also publicly described the incident as terrorism.
Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the UAE president, praised the Indian captain for confronting what he called a “dangerous act of terrorism” and a potential catastrophe.
Israeli authorities are continuing to investigate whether the co-pilot acted alone or whether his foreign travel and contacts point to involvement by another organization or country.
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