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Iran has issued a sharp warning to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states following Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s secret visit to Abu Dhabi, cautioning that an expanded Israeli presence in the region could have “highly dangerous consequences” and urging neighboring countries not to allow their territory to be used against Tehran.

The warning from Iran’s Foreign Ministry came after Netanyahu traveled secretly to the UAE on Sunday for talks with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The trip was initially kept under wraps, but both Israel and the UAE subsequently confirmed that the meeting had taken place.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the visit and called on governments throughout the region to exercise caution as Israel expands its diplomatic and security relationships in the Gulf.

“There is no doubt that, given the proven hostility and hatred of the Zionist regime toward Iran and other countries in the region, as well as its repeated threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran, all countries in the region must remain vigilant regarding the consequences of such a presence,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

Tehran further called on regional governments to prevent their territories from being used for activities that Iran says could threaten neighboring countries or destabilize the region. Iranian officials characterized Netanyahu’s visit as another indication of what they regard as an expanding Israeli security footprint in the Gulf.

The warning carries particular significance amid the intense confrontation between Iran and Israel and the United States this year. Iran has repeatedly accused Gulf countries of facilitating Israeli and American operations against it. In May, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi went so far as to accuse the UAE of being an “active partner” in U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran, an allegation Abu Dhabi rejected.

Netanyahu’s Sunday visit was itself highly unusual. Although Israel and the UAE have maintained formal diplomatic relations since signing the Abraham Accords in 2020, Abu Dhabi’s public confirmation of the meeting represented the first time the Emiratis had openly acknowledged hosting Netanyahu for such a visit.

Netanyahu was accompanied by an unusually senior Israeli delegation that included Mossad chief Roman Gofman, National Security Council head Gil Reich, his military secretary and foreign policy adviser. Netanyahu’s office said the trip centered on strengthening Israeli-Emirati relations and addressing regional challenges.

The UAE offered a more restrained public account, saying simply that Mohamed bin Zayed and Netanyahu discussed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop them.

But Israeli reports indicate that considerably more may have taken place behind closed doors.

According to a Channel 14 report, representatives of a remarkable collection of Arab and Muslim countries were present in Abu Dhabi during the visit, potentially transforming what initially appeared to be a bilateral Israel-UAE meeting into a far broader regional gathering.

The report said representatives were present from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Oman and Egypt, in addition to the UAE, Israel and the United States. If accurate, the gathering would be especially noteworthy because several of those countries do not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel. The reported multinational meeting has not been publicly confirmed by the governments said to have participated.

Other Israeli reporting has produced somewhat different lists, with Jordan and Qatar also mentioned as possible participants. Open-source flight information cited in subsequent reports indicated that a Libyan government aircraft, a Moroccan military transport plane and a Qatari military aircraft were among planes arriving in Abu Dhabi around the time Netanyahu was there. Those movements do not by themselves establish who participated in the meeting.

According to Channel 14, the discussions included Iran, Israeli-Gulf cooperation, economic matters and Israeli defense technology.

Reports also indicated that the talks unfolded in stages, beginning with a more limited meeting involving Netanyahu, Mohamed bin Zayed and their delegations before representatives of other countries joined a broader session.

The possibility that Saudi officials participated is particularly significant. Saudi Arabia still has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, although contacts between the countries have been reported for years. The current regional crisis, including the confrontation with Iran and renewed Houthi military activity in Yemen, has given Israel and several Gulf governments overlapping security concerns.

There was another explosive issue hanging over Netanyahu’s trip.

Recent reports have alleged that Mohamed bin Zayed personally warned Netanyahu before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that a major assault was being prepared. Netanyahu has emphatically denied receiving such a warning.

The Associated Press and Israeli reports, citing sources familiar with the meeting, said Netanyahu used his latest visit to ask the Emirati leader to publicly deny the claim. Netanyahu’s office has denied that the trip was undertaken for that purpose and has maintained that the meeting dealt with regional and bilateral matters.

The secrecy surrounding the visit produced a controversy of its own after Israel’s Channel 12 reported Netanyahu’s location while his aircraft was still outside Israeli airspace on the return trip.

Netanyahu’s office said the disclosure endangered Netanyahu, his wife and the senior Israeli officials traveling with him. The Shin Bet subsequently filed a complaint with Israel’s military censor over what Netanyahu’s office characterized as a serious security violation.

{Matzav.com}

Thousands marched through Yerushalayim on Tuesday night in a massive reception for approximately 50 yeshiva bochurim and other chareidi draft avoiders recently released from military prison, with the event igniting a political firestorm after demonstrators displayed signs referring to the IDF as the “enemy army” and describing imprisoned draft evaders as “hostages.”

The procession, organized by elements associated with the Peleg Yerushalmi and kanoim, began in the Geulah area and proceeded through several major streets in Yerushalayim.

The event featured music, dancing and an open truck carrying some of those who had served time in military prison, while large crowds lined and filled the surrounding streets.

Many of those being honored were young chareidi men who had been arrested at Ben Gurion Airport, including bochurim detained upon returning from Uman following Rosh Hashanah. Because authorities have largely stopped carrying out proactive arrests of chareidi draft avoiders in residential areas, the airport has become one of the primary locations where outstanding military arrest orders are actually enforced.

The most controversial element of Tuesday’s gathering was the rhetoric appearing on signs carried through the streets.

One declared, “Release the hostages from Prison 10, who will never serve in the enemy army.” Other signs carried variations of the longtime anti-draft slogan, “We will die rather than enlist.”

Another sign displayed at the event contained the statement: “If I had to choose whether he should go to the army or die the way he died, I would prefer that he die.”

The characterization of the IDF as an “enemy army,” together with the appropriation of the word “hostages” for draft avoiders incarcerated in military prison, immediately triggered condemnation from politicians and others outside the organizers’ circles.

The organizers had invited approximately 100 recently released draft avoiders to participate, with roughly 50 ultimately attending, according to sources. Each was expected to receive a cash payment following the event in recognition of his refusal to serve. Some sources put the payment at NIS 1,000 per participant.

The event had been coordinated in advance with police, although uniformed officers were largely absent from the procession itself.

The scenes quickly became an election issue, with several opposition leaders using the march to attack Netanyahu’s government and its handling of the chareidi draft controversy.

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot called it “Netanyahu’s march of shame.”

“In Netanyahu’s draft-dodging government, the deserters are the heroes. A government that promoted draft-dodging, abandons security, and for months does not even bother to arrest deserters can no longer remain at the helm of the State of Israel. Its days are numbered,” Eisenkot said.

Eisenkot added: “The upcoming elections are between a draft-dodging government and a Zionist conscription government. The State of Israel cannot afford another term of a draft-dodging government.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman issued a similarly sharp condemnation.

“In Yerushalayim, a welcoming procession is being held for ‘released’ deserters, as if they were just released after three years of fighting in Gaza. These are Netanyahu’s partners. Without the draft dodgers, Bibi has no government,” Liberman said.

Lieberman also demanded an investigation into the funding for the cash payments distributed to participants and called on Netanyahu and the defense minister to condemn the anti-IDF rhetoric.

Former prime minister and Beyachad chairman Naftali Bennett also seized on the event as part of his election campaign against the current government and chareidi political parties.

“This is exactly what the elections are about. Aryeh Deri has already announced that if he is elected again, he will take tens of billions of shekels more from the working public and transfer it to draft dodgers. I will stop all of this. With me, anyone who does not enlist will not receive a shekel from the state,” Bennett said.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, chairman of the Amcha Yisrael party, focused particularly on the description of the IDF as an “enemy army,” contrasting Tuesday’s scenes with reservists spending Yom Tov away from their families while serving.

“At a time when many reservists are spending the holidays in military service and their families are sitting alone around the holiday tables, the scenes of honor being given to deserters at the ‘deserters’ parade’ last night in Bnei Brak, alongside cries of ‘enemy army’ about the Israel Defense Forces today in Yerushalayim, demean and shame our fighters,” Winter said.

{Matzav.com}

The attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 on Wednesday offered a rare real-world glimpse into one of the Israeli Air Force’s most sensitive missions: determining, within minutes, whether an approaching civilian airliner is simply experiencing an emergency — or has been seized and could potentially be used as a weapon against Israel.

The system is designed around one overriding problem: when the first warning arrives, the military may have no idea what is actually happening aboard the aircraft. A communications failure, mechanical problem, medical emergency, confused pilot, hijacking or deliberate terror attack can initially produce similar warning signs. The Air Force therefore has to react before the cause is known.

That is what happened Wednesday when FZ1073, a Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport, began transmitting emergency signals while still well outside Israeli airspace.

Among the signals transmitted by the aircraft was transponder code 7500 — the internationally recognized code for “unlawful interference” with an aircraft. In aviation, the code can indicate that an aircraft has been hijacked or that someone aboard is attempting to seize control of it.

The signal immediately raised alarms in Israel. Contact with the aircraft was disrupted, its flight behavior became abnormal and Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled as the security establishment worked to determine whether the aircraft represented a potential threat.

The plane ultimately diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. Flydubai subsequently confirmed that the passengers were safe.

What Israeli authorities learned afterward made the initial alarm considerably more ominous.

According to the preliminary Israeli account, one of the pilots attacked and stabbed the captain inside the cockpit and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft. Passengers and other crew members forced their way into the cockpit, overpowered the alleged attacker and helped enable another pilot to regain control.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu subsequently said the alleged attacker “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz has characterized the episode as an “attempted jihadist terrorist attack.” Saudi authorities and Flydubai have not publicly confirmed that characterization, and the investigation into the suspect’s motive and background is continuing.

But for the Israeli Air Force, the eventual explanation is largely irrelevant during the first critical minutes of such an incident.

The moment an Israel-bound civilian aircraft begins behaving abnormally, military officials have to consider the possibility that the plane itself could pose a threat. They cannot wait to determine whether the cause is a malfunction, medical crisis, human error or hostile takeover before beginning defensive preparations.

Israel consequently maintains procedures specifically intended for suspicious or unexplained incidents involving civilian aircraft approaching its airspace.

Those procedures are not activated only after someone explicitly reports, “This aircraft has been hijacked.” An unexplained deviation from an assigned route, loss of radio communications, unusual flight behavior or an emergency transponder code can all trigger escalating scrutiny and a military response.

Aircraft transponders provide controllers with several internationally recognized emergency codes. Squawk 7700 indicates a general emergency. Code 7600 signifies a communications failure. Code 7500 indicates unlawful interference — most commonly associated with a hijacking.

FZ1073 reportedly transmitted 7700 before switching to 7500 as the emergency unfolded.

A 7500 signal is especially serious because pilots are trained to use it discreetly when circumstances permit. It allows a cockpit crew to alert air traffic controllers to unlawful interference without necessarily having to announce over the radio that a hijacking is underway.

But even 7500 does not, by itself, establish precisely what is happening aboard the aircraft. Controllers and military officials must still establish contact if possible, examine the aircraft’s course, altitude and behavior, communicate with surrounding aviation authorities and determine whether the crew remains in command.

Israel’s geographical size adds urgency to that process. An aircraft traveling at normal jetliner speeds can cover enormous distances in a matter of minutes, leaving relatively little time between the identification of a potentially hostile aircraft and its arrival near heavily populated areas.

The Air Force therefore maintains a continuous picture of aircraft operating around Israel and keeps forces capable of moving rapidly from routine monitoring to an operational response.

Once an aircraft is considered suspicious, fighter jets can be scrambled to intercept it.

An interception serves several purposes. Fighters can visually identify the aircraft, observe its condition and behavior, attempt to communicate with its crew and, when appropriate, escort it. At the same time, commanders on the ground continue receiving and evaluating information from military radar, civilian air traffic control and other relevant authorities.

Depending upon the circumstances, authorities can also alter civilian traffic patterns, restrict portions of the airspace or take other defensive measures while the aircraft’s status is being determined.

The goal is to answer several urgent questions as rapidly as possible: Who is flying the plane? Is the cockpit crew responding? Is the aircraft following instructions? Why did it deviate from its expected behavior? Is it attempting to land safely, or is it approaching Israel in a manner that could constitute a threat?

The fighter aircraft are therefore only the most visible part of a much larger response taking place simultaneously in the air and on the ground.

Senior military and political officials may also be drawn into the decision-making process depending on the severity of the incident. Wednesday’s Flydubai emergency triggered high-level consultations involving Netanyahu, Katz and senior defense officials while the aircraft’s status remained uncertain.

The Israeli Air Force routinely drills scenarios involving suspicious civilian aircraft precisely because there may be very little time to make decisions and incomplete information on which to make them.

Such exercises focus heavily on what the military describes as rapidly “closing the loop” — moving from the first indication of abnormal behavior to identification, information gathering and an appropriate operational response.

The process also explains why the scrambling of Israeli fighter jets does not mean authorities have concluded that a plane has been hijacked.

A civilian aircraft suffering a communications malfunction can appear suspicious. So can an aircraft whose pilots accidentally deviate from their assigned route. A serious mechanical failure can cause sudden changes in altitude or direction. A medical emergency can result in an unexpected diversion.

During the opening moments, military officials may be unable to distinguish among those possibilities.

Wednesday’s incident demonstrated that uncertainty in dramatic fashion. Early in the emergency, Israeli officials stressed that they did not yet have verified information proving that FZ1073 had been hijacked. Reports initially ranged from a cockpit altercation to a technical problem to possible unlawful interference.

As testimony from passengers and information from the cockpit emerged, Israeli officials increasingly came to view the incident as a deliberate attack.

Passengers described the aircraft plunging rapidly as the confrontation unfolded. Flight-tracking data showed the jet losing roughly 14,000 feet during the emergency, while passengers rushed toward the cockpit after hearing screams.

The alleged attacker was eventually subdued, reportedly with passengers using cables from the aircraft’s entertainment headphones to restrain him. A doctor and nurse aboard the flight treated the wounded captain, while additional pilots helped stabilize the aircraft and divert it to Saudi Arabia.

A senior Israeli official later said that “an extremely serious disaster was averted.”

Yet the military response began before Israeli authorities knew any of that.

From the Air Force’s perspective, an unexplained aircraft approaching Israel cannot simply be presumed harmless while officials wait for additional information. The threat has to be treated seriously until enough information has been gathered to determine otherwise.

That philosophy reflects one of the central lessons international aviation authorities absorbed from the September 11 attacks: a hijacked passenger aircraft may itself become the weapon. Once that possibility exists, the question is no longer solely how to rescue an aircraft in distress, but whether the aircraft could threaten people on the ground.

The Flydubai episode ultimately ended without the aircraft entering Israel under hostile control. FZ1073 diverted to Saudi Arabia, landed safely, and its passengers survived.

But for the Israeli Air Force, the response began much earlier — with a few digits transmitted from a civilian aircraft in the sky.

Until commanders knew why that code had appeared, they had to prepare for the possibility that the plane heading toward Israel was no longer simply a passenger flight.

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

Three kedoshei elyon had one common concept when it came to learning Torah – they were the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh (Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar 1696-1743) when he came to Eretz Yisroel; the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto 1707-1746) when he lived in Padua, Italy;  and Hagaon, Harav Chaim Volozhiner, (1749-1821) the famous talmid of the Gaon of Vilna.

They each had a yeshiva with ‘around-the-clock’ Torah learning, 24-hours a day, so that there would be no minute when the sound of Torah learning would not be heard in this world. The 24-hour period would be divided into shifts, and as one ended the next would begin.

Torah-24

A “Torah-24” Center has been opened in Yerushalayim and the Nasi is Maran Sar Hatorah, Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l.

• The first “Torah-24” center is in Yerushalayim

• 11 Kollelim with 163 avreichim will be learning at “Torah-24” every day

• Nigleh, Nistar, Chumash and Halacha – All under ONE ROOF

• Talmud Bavli / Yerushalmi – Kabbalah & Zohar – Rambam, Shulchan Aruch & Poskim, Zeraim – Taharos 

• The following SIX kollelim – Kollel Hashkomas Haboker, Kollel Yerushalmi, Kollel Bavli, Kollel Choshen Mishpat/Even Haezer, Kollel Erev Shabbos, Kollel Kabbalah B’Chatzos (Tikun Chatzot, Etz Chaim, Zohar, Tehillim) – are fully operational

• 24 hour תורה learning cycle – 6:00 am to 6:00 am – is divided into different shifts

• Each kollel shift has its own program, Rosh Kollel and avreichim

• Detailed monthly and annual tests – written and oral – for all avreichim 

• Already there are 77 avreichim metzuyonim, and a large number of candidates are vying for the remaining slots in the kollelim. All the avreichim are required to take rigorous monthly tests.

In the words of Gedolei Torah:

“Torah-24 תורה” – where the voice of Torah is not absent from within the walls of the kollelim, not even for a minute…

“The idea … of day and night shifts of non-stop kollelim… the full range of subjects of the Torah… the derech of the Ramchal, the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh and Hagaon Reb Chaim of Volozhin.”

– Nasi Maran Sar Hatorah, Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l

“All who donate to and support “Torah-24 תורה” will merit all the brochos of the Torah, including those for refuos, yeshuos, parnossa tova and nachas from all their descendants, Amen”

– Maran Rosh Yeshivas Ponevez, Hagaon Harav Gershon Edelstein, zt”l

At “Torah-24 תורה”, exceptional avreichim do not pause for a moment while studying all the areas of the holy Torah, with a shift of remarkable scholars studying the holy Zohar and the recitation of Tikun Chatzos at midnight. 

All who donate and support this holy endeavor of “Torah-24 תורה” should see brocha and success … children and grandchildren immersed in Torah and mitzvos… fulfillment of all the hopes of their hearts for good and with brocha. 

– Maran Hagaon Harav Moishe Sternbuch, shlit”a 

I join the esteemed Rabbanim and Gaonim, shlit”a, in endorsing the illustrious “Kollel Kabbalah b’Chatzos” designated for outstanding talmidei chachomim, masters of Torah and yiras Shomayim, who spend their nights in Beis Hashem, engaging deeply in the concealed dimensions of Torah during this auspicious time of Divine Favor…

I hereby call upon my generous brethren to support this endeavor with significant sums, for through this they will attain the great merit of the hidden Torah studied at night. May you all be blessed by Hashem with many blessings in accordance with the greatness of the endeavor that you are supporting!

– Maran Hagaon Hamekubal, Harav Yaakov Meir Shechter, shlit”a

“Support ‘Torah-24 תורה’ where the sound of Torah – nigleh and nistar – all hours of the day and night; and be blessed from shamayim that the Torah should never cease from your mouth; children bnei Torah; abundant parnassa and good health”

– Maran Hagaon Harav Shimon Badani, zt”l
Rosh Kollel Torah V’Chaim, Member Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah

“Torah-24 תורה” – groups of talmidei chachomim geonim in different shifts, delve in the subjects of Torah learning without interruption – Bavli, Yerushalmi, Dalet Chelkei Shulchan Aruch, Rambam, Kabbala, Midrash, Tana”ch and more.  “Torah-24 תורה” is in actuality a wonderful continuation of the heichalei hakodesh and battei midrash of our holy Rabbonim – the Ramchal, the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh and the Nefesh Hachaim, zy”o. Who would not want to be part of this historical and amazing project “Torah-24 תורה”, and the greatness of its holy impact in both the supernal and lower realms?  “My brocha to all who support “Torah-24 תורה” – You should merit great abundance in both the spiritual and the material – supernal light, peace of mind, tranquility of the soul and bodily health. Only goodness and kindness should pursue you all the days of your lives, and you should dwell securely for your length of days.

– Maran Hamashpia Hagadol, ‘Reb Meilech’ Biderman, shlit”a

“Your kesher with ‘Torah-24 תורה’ will be a true ובהם נהגה יומם ולילה – and we will delve in them by day and by night”

– Maran Hagaon Harav Shraga Steinman, shlit”a – Orchos Torah

 

“Talmidei Chachomim of ‘Torah-24 תורה’ delve into all sectors of Torah – Bavli and Yerushalmi, Dalet Chelkei Shulchan Aruch, Rambam, Kabbalah – Nistar”

– Maran Hagaon Harav Shimon Gallai, shlit”a – Bnei Brak

 

Kollel Kabbalah b’Chatzos” is a precious link in the golden chain of the glorious Torah empire “Torah-24”… bringing tremendous delight to the Ribbono shel Olam. Fortunate are all those who take part in this great and holy endeavor.

– Maran HaMekubal Rav Abish Zehnwirth, shlit”a

 

For more “Torah-24” information click on: www.torah-24.com or call 718-766-5022

Harrowing video from inside Flydubai Flight FZ1073 shows the aircraft’s gravely wounded captain lying drenched in blood and struggling to remain conscious after he was allegedly stabbed repeatedly by his copilot, who Israeli officials say then attempted to crash the Tel Aviv-bound passenger jet with 174 people aboard.

The injured captain has since been identified in multiple reports as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national and veteran Boeing 737 pilot who joined Flydubai in 2022 after spending roughly 11 years with SpiceJet. His precise medical condition has not been publicly disclosed by Saudi authorities, which have confirmed that both the captain and first officer were taken to a hospital after the aircraft landed in Tabuk.

Graphic footage recorded aboard the aircraft captures the bloody aftermath of the confrontation. Machchhar can be seen lying on his back in the galley, wearing an oxygen mask as passengers and others surround him. Blood covers parts of his clothing and the wall beside him.

His hand is pressed against his abdomen, where one of his wounds has been covered with a bandage already saturated with blood.

“No sleep. You want sleep?” an unseen man filming the chaotic scene asks the pilot in English, who weakly shakes his head no.

Elsewhere aboard the aircraft, another uniformed crew member — believed to be the copilot accused of carrying out the attack — can be seen restrained and apparently unconscious, his white uniform heavily stained with blood.

Passengers who had helped secure the aircraft could be heard documenting the scene and making clear that they were guarding the cockpit.

“Film us too – film ourselves – [showing] that we’re standing guard here. They attacked us, and we’re guarding the pilot here,” passengers can be heard speaking Hebrew in the video translated by The Post.

Another passenger described what had happened moments earlier and said those aboard were now preventing anyone from gaining access to the cockpit.

“They attacked us on this plane. They tried to murder the pilot. We took control of the crew. Why? This is the pilot they wanted to murder,” another man can be heard saying.

“Gili … my brother, well done. Film everything. We’re standing here. Nobody is getting through the pilot’s door. That’s what [they] wanted,” he says.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, on its morning flight from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport when the violent episode erupted. The aircraft ultimately diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Passengers have said that two additional pilots traveling aboard FZ1073 came forward during the crisis and helped regain control of the aircraft after the cockpit attack. Initial accounts have differed regarding the nationalities of those pilots, and Flydubai has not publicly identified them.

The flight had been airborne for roughly two hours when the aircraft abruptly plunged. Flight-tracking data examined by multiple outlets showed the jet falling from approximately 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in less than two minutes, although differing tracking services produced somewhat different measurements of the exact altitude loss.

The plane subsequently transmitted emergency transponder code 7700 before switching to 7500 — the internationally recognized code indicating unlawful interference with an aircraft, including a possible hijacking. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as security officials tried to determine what was happening aboard the approaching aircraft.

Israel has opened a terrorism investigation into the episode. Two Israeli officials told Reuters that the current assessment is that the copilot deliberately attempted to bring down the aircraft after stabbing the captain, rather than the incident being the result of a mental-health episode. Saudi authorities and Flydubai have not publicly confirmed Israel’s terrorism assessment.

One Israeli official gave an even more chilling description to Channel 12, saying that “one pilot stabbed the other and tried to do a 9/11.”

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu later said publicly that the copilot tried to “crash the plane with its passengers” and confirmed that the suspected attacker had been arrested after the emergency landing.

“He is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities. We are maintaining continuous contact with the relevant authorities to ensure the ongoing safety of the passengers and to guarantee their prompt return home,” Netanyahu said.

“I have instructed the security establishment to prepare for additional potential threats.”

Netanyahu said passengers and crew members intervened as the aircraft began plunging, overpowering the suspected attacker and allowing other pilots aboard the flight to regain control. He described the intervention as having prevented a major disaster.

The suspected copilot has been identified by Israeli sources as an Omani national. Reports said he had been employed by Flydubai for less than a year, though the airline has not publicly released his identity or confirmed those details.

The reported nationality has raised an additional security question because Oman does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Israeli authorities are now examining how the copilot was cleared to serve aboard a flight bound for Ben Gurion Airport, with the Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF and transportation authorities reportedly involved in reviewing the matter.

The wounded captain, meanwhile, has been identified as Machchhar, an experienced Indian aviator. Publicly available professional information indicates that he became a Flydubai captain in June 2022 after a lengthy career with SpiceJet, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He has nearly 10,000 hours of flying experience on Boeing 737 aircraft, according to his professional profile.

Videos recorded by passengers during and immediately after the attack have provided a firsthand picture of the chaos inside the aircraft.

“We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help,” a passenger with blood streaming down his face said in a first-person video posted on X.

Other footage showed passengers rushing toward the cockpit, while those who had helped overpower the suspected attacker attempted to secure the area and assist the wounded captain.

One passenger later recorded a message to his family after the aircraft had reached Saudi Arabia, his clothes still stained with blood from the struggle.

“We’ve apparently landed in Saudi Arabia. There’s a pilot that’s seriously injured.

“They’re taking him to a hospital. There’s another terrorist who … we don’t know his condition, but he was involved somehow. It was rough. It was rough. We’ll be home in a few hours. I need a change of clothes. Everything is drenched in blood,” the man said.

The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk after Saudi air traffic control received a distress call and granted it an emergency landing. Saudi airport officials said both the captain and first officer were injured and transported for medical treatment.

The suspected attacker was taken into Saudi custody, while Israeli passengers were questioned about the extraordinary events aboard the aircraft.

The bloodied passenger who had helped during the crisis eventually ended his message home on an emotional note.

“That’s it. I love you. I’ll tell you what happened when we get back,” he added.

“Your dad is a hero. One of the heroes. [I didn’t do it] alone. I’ll see you later. I gotta let my heart rate go down.”

{Matzav.com}

All 174 passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia after the suspected terror attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 are on their way back to Israel, after several shaken passengers who initially refused to set foot on another Flydubai aircraft ultimately agreed to board once Israeli security officials vetted and approved the replacement crew.

The replacement aircraft took off from Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday afternoon and was headed for Ben Gurion Airport, bringing an end to hours of uncertainty following the dramatic cockpit attack and emergency landing earlier in the day.

Several passengers had initially refused to board the replacement flight, saying they were too frightened to fly with Flydubai again after what they had experienced. Israeli officials intervened, and the Mossad examined the replacement flight crew before approving the aircraft for the return journey. The pilots assigned to the replacement flight were reported to be Australian and Ukrainian.

After receiving assurances from Israeli security officials, the remaining passengers agreed to join the others, allowing the replacement flight to depart Saudi Arabia with the entire group.

The passengers had been stranded in Tabuk since FZ1073, which was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, diverted there following the extraordinary midair emergency. Israeli diplomatic and security officials maintained contact with Saudi authorities throughout the episode. The passengers were questioned in Saudi Arabia about what had occurred aboard the aircraft, but Israeli officials said none would be required to remain in the kingdom as part of the investigation.

The emergency began while FZ1073 was cruising toward Israel and suddenly transmitted a transponder code indicating unlawful interference aboard an aircraft — the internationally recognized signal associated with a possible hijacking.

Israeli authorities initially lost contact with the aircraft, prompting the Israeli Air Force to scramble fighter jets as senior officials attempted to determine whether a hijacked passenger plane could be approaching Israeli airspace. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and other senior defense officials held urgent security consultations as the crisis unfolded.

It subsequently emerged that a violent confrontation had erupted inside the cockpit.

According to Israel’s preliminary assessment, the copilot — identified in Israeli reports as an Omani national — attacked and repeatedly stabbed the captain and then attempted to deliberately bring down the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Saudi Arabia and Flydubai have not yet publicly confirmed the Israeli characterization of the incident as terrorism, and investigators are continuing to examine the suspect’s motive.

Israeli officials said evidence increasingly pointed toward a deliberate terrorist attack rather than an episode stemming from a personal dispute or mental-health crisis. Defense Minister Katz has described the incident as an attempted “jihadist terrorist attack,” saying Israel’s initial information indicated that the alleged attacker intended to crash the aircraft with everyone aboard.

Passengers and other flight crew members heard screams coming from the cockpit and rushed forward. Several passengers then entered the cockpit, joined the struggle and succeeded in dragging the alleged attacker away from the controls.

A senior Israeli official said afterward that “an extremely serious disaster was averted.”

Tzvika Manes, CEO of Barak Capital Underwriting, was traveling with his wife and young daughters and was among three passengers who rushed into the cockpit and helped overpower the alleged attacker.

“I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” he said.

Manes subsequently provided a more detailed account, saying the passengers had difficulty restraining the suspected attacker because of his strength. With no conventional restraints available, they eventually tied him up using cables from the aircraft’s entertainment headphones.

Meanwhile, other passengers aboard the flight documented the immediate aftermath of the struggle.

In one video, a passenger with blood covering part of his face can be seen addressing the camera as the aircraft prepared for its emergency landing.

“We have just taken control of the terrorists. We’re preparing to land. Anyone who can hear me, we need help.”

Yitzhak Lieber, another passenger aboard FZ1073, described how passengers reacted after discovering that a knife-wielding attacker had injured one of the pilots.

“We took control here on the flight of the attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots. We just jumped in, and a few of us got them out of the cockpit. Everything is fine now.”

Footage recorded aboard the aircraft showed passengers and crew members securing the cockpit entrance after the attacker had been removed, while medical professionals among the passengers treated the wounded captain.

A doctor and nurse aboard the aircraft stabilized the injured pilot, according to Manes. Additional qualified pilots who were traveling aboard FZ1073 then helped take control of the plane after the alleged attacker was subdued.

Flight data captured the severity of what was happening in the air. The aircraft suddenly dropped approximately 14,000 feet — roughly 4,200 meters — in an extraordinarily short period during the cockpit struggle. FZ1073 descended from about 34,000 feet toward 20,000 feet as the emergency unfolded.

The aircraft initially transmitted squawk code 7700, signaling a general emergency, before switching to 7500, the code for unlawful interference. Contact was eventually established with Saudi authorities, and the aircraft diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk.

The plane landed safely, and Saudi authorities took the suspected attacker into custody. Both pilots were taken to a hospital, while the passengers were brought into the terminal and questioned about what they had witnessed.

Netanyahu later said he spoke directly with one of the Israelis who intervened aboard the aircraft and praised those who entered the cockpit for preventing catastrophe.

“I salute these heroes, who displayed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage,” he said. “They saved many lives. They prevented a major disaster.”

Once the immediate danger had passed, Israeli officials faced the unusual challenge of bringing more than 170 Israelis home from Saudi Arabia, a country with which Israel has no formal diplomatic relations.

Israeli authorities considered several options, including sending an Israeli civilian or military aircraft to Tabuk. El Al also reportedly offered to operate a special rescue flight. Ultimately, however, Flydubai dispatched its own replacement aircraft.

That immediately produced anxiety among some of the passengers.

Manes said the reluctance was understandable after the ordeal they had just survived.

“It makes sense that people are afraid to fly with the same airline after going through something so traumatic,” he said.

The Mossad subsequently reviewed the replacement crew and approved the flight. Manes said he also personally checked the identities of the pilots and was told that one was Australian and the other Ukrainian.

With those assurances in place, the passengers who had initially refused to board changed their minds and joined the rest of the group.

The replacement Flydubai jet then departed Tabuk with all 174 passengers aboard, bringing the group home after a day that began with a routine flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and turned into a bloody struggle for control of an aircraft thousands of feet above the Middle East.

An Israeli passenger who helped overpower the suspected attacker aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 has provided a gripping account of the battle inside the plunging aircraft, describing how three passengers rushed into the cockpit, wrestled the alleged attacker out and ultimately tied him up using headphone cables as other pilots fought to regain control of the plane.

Tzvika Manes, CEO of Barak Capital Underwriting and one of the men who physically subdued the suspected attacker, said the first indication of trouble came almost by chance, when his wife accompanied their young daughter to a restroom near the cockpit.

“My youngest daughter was in the bathroom, and my wife went with her. She heard shouting and strange noises coming from the cockpit,” Manes recalled.

His wife immediately alerted a relief pilot who was outside the cockpit, telling him that something appeared to be seriously wrong inside. When the cockpit door was opened, he encountered a violent struggle and called for assistance.

“He opened the door and began struggling with the attacker. We immediately jumped in and pulled him out,” Manes said. A pilot then entered the cockpit, followed later by another pilot.

As the struggle unfolded, the aircraft itself was rapidly losing altitude, throwing passengers around the cabin as screams erupted throughout the plane.

“We lost our angle. He was really trying to direct the aircraft toward the ground. People were being thrown around, and there were screams,” Manes said.

Flight-tracking data shows the Boeing 737 MAX 8, which had been cruising at roughly 34,000 feet, suddenly losing thousands of feet of altitude during the emergency. The aircraft also transmitted the international 7500 transponder code for unlawful interference aboard an aircraft.

Once Manes and the other passengers managed to drag the alleged attacker from the cockpit, they still had to keep him from breaking free. Manes said the man fought with considerable strength.

“We eventually tied him up and neutralized him. It took quite a lot of physical force. He is a strong man; he was probably running on adrenaline.”

With no handcuffs or other restraints readily available, the passengers improvised. According to Manes, they grabbed the cables attached to the aircraft’s in-flight entertainment headphones and used them to bind the suspect.

Meanwhile, the scene around them was covered in blood. The captain had suffered multiple stab wounds, and medical professionals who happened to be aboard the flight rushed to his aid.

“A doctor and a nurse who were on the flight stabilized the pilot, who had been stabbed all over his body,” Manes said.

Manes credited the wounded captain’s actions with helping make the rescue possible. By opening the cockpit door, he enabled those outside to realize what was happening and intervene. Once the alleged attacker had been removed, another flight crew member entered the cockpit and helped regain control of the aircraft.

In another account of the ordeal, Manes described the moment his wife first heard the disturbance.

“Suddenly she heard shouting, screaming and noise from the cockpit. She told the pilot who was outside, ‘Something is happening – get in, get in.’”

Once the cockpit door opened, Manes said there was no hesitation.

“He opened it, and then the three of us jumped in. We neutralized him, the attacker, and a doctor helped the captain and stabilized him,” Manes said.

Another pilot then took control while Manes and two other passengers concentrated on restraining the suspected attacker.

“I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” Manes recalled.

In a separate interview, Manes said his wife had called out specifically to a relief pilot sitting near the cockpit after hearing the commotion. “My wife was standing near the cockpit because our daughter was in the restroom. Suddenly, she heard shouting coming from the cockpit. She yelled to a relief pilot from who was sitting nearby: ‘Go in quickly, see what’s happening.’”

“He called for help, and two other men and I entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker. I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” Manes said.

According to Manes, the relief pilot who came forward was from Fiji, the wounded captain was from India, and the alleged attacker was an Omani pilot. Israeli officials have also said preliminary information indicates that the suspected attacker was Omani, though Flydubai has not publicly confirmed his identity or nationality.

Another passenger, Yitzhak Lieber, recorded himself aboard the aircraft after the attacker had been subdued, his face visibly bloodied as he described what had just happened.

“We are in the middle of a plane hijacking. At the moment, we have taken control of the attackers and we are about to land,” he said. “Anyone who can hear me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, apparently somewhere in Saudi Arabia, an unfamiliar and unknown area. Everyone on the plane is safe and well except for the pilot. We need help.”

Lieber gave another account of how passengers reacted after discovering that a knife-wielding man had attacked one of the pilots.

“We simply jumped in and pulled him out of the cockpit, a few of us. Everything is okay now,” he said, adding that the attacker had been subdued and crew members were inside the cockpit.

Lieber said the passengers then made certain the cockpit was secured after control of the aircraft had been restored.

“We made sure they closed the door.”

He also described the uncertainty surrounding the wounded flight crew as the aircraft prepared for its emergency landing.

“There is a pilot here who is seriously wounded. Apparently there is another pilot inside who is wounded, but he is managing to land the plane. There are two crew members from the aircraft.”

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu later said he had personally spoken with one of the Israeli passengers involved and was told that the aircraft had begun spiraling downward during the attack.

According to Netanyahu, one pilot stabbed the other and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.”

“I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers,” Netanyahu said. “He told me that the aircraft went into a spin and began to plunge. He told me that, one way or another, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the aircraft’s systems.”

Netanyahu said another member of the flight crew was then able to take over the controls and stabilize the aircraft.

“I salute these heroes, who displayed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage,” he said. “They saved many lives. They prevented a major disaster.”

The suspected attacker was taken into custody after the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, and Netanyahu said Saudi authorities were interrogating him. Israel has remained in contact with Saudi and other relevant authorities while seeking information about the suspect, his motive and whether he acted alone.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has gone further in characterizing the incident, calling it an “attempted jihadist terrorist attack.” Katz said Israel’s preliminary information indicates that the attacker intended to deliberately crash the aircraft with everyone aboard. Flydubai and Saudi authorities have not publicly confirmed that assessment, and no evidence has yet been disclosed tying the suspect to a terrorist organization or foreign government.

The ordeal continued even after the passengers were safely on the ground. With the group stranded in Saudi Arabia, Flydubai dispatched another aircraft to Tabuk to bring them to Israel. Israeli security officials vetted the replacement crew before approving the return flight.

For some passengers, however, boarding another aircraft operated by the same airline so soon after the ordeal was frightening.

“It makes sense that people are afraid to fly with the same airline after going through something so traumatic,” Manes said.

Manes said Israeli security officials spoke with the passengers and attempted to reassure them. He also personally checked the nationalities of the pilots assigned to the replacement flight and said he learned that one was Australian and the other Ukrainian.

For Manes, who was traveling with his wife and young daughters, the extraordinary nature of what happened was still sinking in hours later.

“This is a shocking event by any measure,” he said. “I’m here with my family, with young girls. It is traumatic for everyone.”

The passengers had boarded what was supposed to be a routine morning flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Instead, Manes found himself rushing toward a blood-soaked cockpit aboard a diving aircraft, joining two other passengers in overpowering a man they believed was trying to bring down the jet.

And with no restraints available after they pulled him out, the passengers reached for whatever they could find — the headphone cables at their seats — and used them to keep him tied down until the aircraft was safely on the ground.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Wednesday publicly described the terrifying events aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 for the first time, saying one of the pilots stabbed the other and apparently attempted to deliberately crash the Tel Aviv-bound jet with everyone aboard before passengers and other crew members intervened.

“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video statement Wednesday afternoon. He called the passengers who intervened “heroes” who “prevented a major disaster.”

The prime minister’s account marked a significant development in Israel’s description of an incident that began Wednesday morning with reports of an unexplained emergency aboard the Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 traveling from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport.

Flight FZ1073 was carrying 174 passengers, according to Israeli reports, including 27 children. More than 100 of those aboard were Israeli nationals.

According to Netanyahu, the violent confrontation began as the aircraft was approaching Israel. One pilot allegedly attacked and stabbed the other, after which the aircraft began a frightening and extremely rapid descent.

Flight-tracking data shows just how dramatic that descent was. The jet dropped from approximately 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet in a matter of minutes, with some tracking data recording an extraordinary instantaneous descent rate during the crisis.

Passengers described the aircraft as being effectively out of control during those moments.

Miryam Shira Ohayon, who was aboard the flight, said, “The plane was pretty much out of control.”

“So the co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she said.

Her mother, Yasmin Abukasis, who was waiting for her daughter at Ben Gurion Airport, said passengers heard shouting before discovering the bloody scene near the cockpit.

“She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting,” Abukasis said.

Another passenger went toward the cockpit “and saw a lot of blood,” she said.

“She started screaming ‘come help’ and some people went in and caught the guy,” Abukasis said.

“All the while, the plane started going down very fast. People thought they were going to die,” she added.

Tzvika Manes, CEO of Barak Capital Underwriting, Bank Leumi’s underwriting arm, said he was one of the passengers who rushed into the cockpit and physically subdued the alleged attacker.

“My wife was standing near the cockpit because our daughter was in the restroom. Suddenly, she heard shouting coming from the cockpit. She yelled to a relief pilot from who was sitting nearby: ‘Go in quickly, see what’s happening.’”

“He called for help, and two other men and I entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker. I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” Manes said.

A doctor aboard the aircraft then began treating the injured pilot.

“A doctor who was on board bandaged the pilot, treated him, and allowed the flight to continue,” Manes said.

Other qualified pilots were reportedly aboard the aircraft as passengers or positioning crew members and were able to take control after the suspect was subdued. Israeli media reported that they helped stabilize the aircraft and carry out the emergency diversion to Saudi Arabia.

Video recorded during the ordeal showed just how uncertain passengers remained about whether they would survive.

“We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help,” a bloodied passenger said.

“We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown, unfamiliar area. On the plane, everybody is safe and sound, other than the pilot. We need help.”

Another passenger described the terror inside the cabin as the plane rapidly lost altitude.

“For several minutes we were certain we will be murdered or crash … Screams were heard coming from the cockpit,” the passenger said.

“The Israeli passengers grabbed the attacker and pinned him to the floor … There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive.”

The aircraft’s transponder signals added to fears that a hijacking was underway. About 90 minutes after departing Dubai, the plane transmitted code 7700, the international signal for a general emergency. It subsequently transmitted 7500, the code used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft, including a possible hijacking.

The signals set off alarms throughout Israel’s security establishment. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled, while Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent security consultation. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir simultaneously held an assessment with the commander of the Israeli Air Force and the heads of the IDF’s Operations and Military Intelligence directorates.

The aircraft ultimately landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi airport authorities confirmed that both the captain and copilot were injured and transported to a hospital, but their initial statement did not explain the cause of the injuries or characterize what happened as terrorism.

Netanyahu said Saudi authorities had arrested the suspected attacker and were questioning him.

Israeli reports have described the suspect as an Omani copilot, although neither Flydubai nor Saudi authorities had publicly confirmed his identity or nationality as of Wednesday afternoon. Authorities are investigating his background, motive and whether anyone else was involved.

Defense Minister Katz went further than Netanyahu in describing the episode, publicly declaring it an attempted “jihadist terrorist attack.” Katz said Israel’s preliminary information indicated that the attacker had one objective: bringing down the aircraft with everyone aboard.

Flydubai, by contrast, has remained cautious, saying only that FZ1073 “experienced an incident while en route” and confirming that everyone aboard was safe. The airline said it was cooperating with the authorities and would provide additional information as verified details became available.

There has also been no publicly disclosed evidence thus far establishing that the alleged attacker was acting under orders from a terrorist organization or foreign government.

The incident has triggered a separate investigation into how the suspected copilot was approved to operate an Israel-bound flight. Transportation Minister Miri Regev has demanded an examination of the crew-vetting process amid reports that the suspect was an Omani national.

For Netanyahu, however, the most immediate conclusion from the extraordinary episode was that the outcome could have been dramatically different had passengers and other crew members not acted when they did.

The prime minister said the passengers who confronted the alleged attacker “prevented a major disaster,” crediting their intervention with saving the lives of those aboard the aircraft.

Israeli security and aviation authorities launched an urgent investigation Wednesday into how a Flydubai copilot reportedly from Oman — a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel — was cleared to operate a flight to Tel Aviv before allegedly stabbing the captain and attempting to crash the aircraft with 174 passengers aboard.

The Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF, Transportation Ministry and Israel Airports Authority are now examining the security procedures that preceded Flydubai Flight FZ1073, including precisely what screening was conducted on the suspected attacker and whether his assignment to the Israel route complied with the aviation arrangements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

At the center of the investigation is a basic question: How was a pilot identified by Israeli officials as an Omani national authorized to fly an aircraft scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport?

Under Israeli-Emirati aviation arrangements cited by Israeli officials and media, pilots operating flights into Israel are required to hold passports from countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. Oman has never joined the Abraham Accords and does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev has demanded an examination of whether Flydubai and the UAE violated those requirements and called for the airline’s flights to Israel to be suspended while the matter is investigated.

One possibility under examination is that the suspected copilot held dual citizenship and entered Israel under a second passport from a country that does maintain relations with Israel. Israeli reports said Regev raised the dual-citizenship issue in discussions with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

Security officials are also investigating whether the standard vetting process was properly conducted before the copilot was approved for the Tel Aviv route. Because of the particular sensitivities surrounding flights arriving from Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries, foreign crew members are subject to individualized screening before being cleared for flights into Israeli airspace.

Investigators are seeking to determine whether that screening occurred in this case, what information was available about the copilot beforehand and whether any warning signs were missed.

The investigation comes after Netanyahu publicly described what happened aboard FZ1073 as a “highly severe security incident.” According to Netanyahu, the copilot attacked the captain while the aircraft was approaching Israel and then attempted to bring down the Boeing 737 MAX.

The suspected attacker was identified by an Israeli official as an Omani national and was arrested after the plane made its emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities are questioning him.

Netanyahu said passengers and another crew member forced their way into the cockpit after the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive” and found the copilot “trying to sabotage the plane’s systems.”

“They saved many lives. They prevented a heavy disaster,” Netanyahu said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz went further, describing the episode as an attempted jihadist terror attack and saying Israel’s preliminary information indicated that the suspect intended to crash the aircraft with everyone aboard. That remains the Israeli government’s assessment; Saudi authorities and Flydubai have not publicly confirmed a terrorist motive.

Flight data underscores how close the incident came to catastrophe. The aircraft was cruising at roughly 34,000 feet when it suddenly plunged by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before its first emergency transmission, according to Flightradar24 data cited by Reuters.

The plane initially transmitted squawk code 7700, indicating a general emergency, and subsequently switched to 7500, the international signal for unlawful interference with an aircraft. The second signal immediately raised fears in Israel that a passenger jet carrying scores of Israelis had been hijacked.

Israeli fighter jets were scrambled while Netanyahu and senior defense officials held emergency consultations. The plane ultimately stabilized and landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk.

Passengers have described a bloody struggle inside the cockpit in which Israelis and other crew members rushed forward after hearing screams. Israeli reports say the captain was repeatedly stabbed before passengers managed to overpower the alleged attacker and remove him from the cockpit.

A particularly fortunate circumstance may have prevented the incident from becoming an aviation catastrophe: additional qualified pilots were traveling aboard FZ1073 as part of a crew arrangement. After the alleged attacker was subdued, another pilot was able to take control of the aircraft and help bring it safely to Saudi Arabia.

“The great stroke of luck on this flight was the pilots,” a senior Israeli official told Channel 12. “Otherwise, we would have been facing an incident straight out of September 2001 or July 1976.”

The official was referring to the September 11 terror attacks in the United States and the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight to Entebbe.

Israel’s investigation is now extending beyond the alleged attacker himself. Authorities want to reconstruct the entire chain through which he was hired, screened, assigned to FZ1073 and ultimately permitted to serve aboard an aircraft whose scheduled destination was Israel.

Flydubai has not confirmed the copilot’s nationality or publicly explained how its crew members are vetted for Israel-bound flights. The airline has described Wednesday’s events only as an onboard “incident” and said it is cooperating with the relevant authorities.

There is also no publicly disclosed evidence at this stage that the suspected attacker was directed by a terrorist organization, foreign government or other outside entity. Israeli authorities are investigating whether he acted alone and what motivated his alleged actions.

The Shin Bet is expected to question the Israeli passengers and crew members after their return from Saudi Arabia as investigators piece together the events inside the cockpit and seek to determine whether anything before takeoff should have raised suspicion.

Meanwhile, the Mossad was involved in security arrangements for the replacement Flydubai aircraft dispatched to Tabuk to retrieve the stranded passengers, as Israeli authorities sought assurances regarding the crew assigned to bring them home.

The scrutiny is particularly significant because Flydubai’s Dubai-Tel Aviv service is part of one of the busiest aviation links created by the Abraham Accords. More than two dozen flights normally operate each day between Israel and the UAE, and the route has continued operating despite years of regional conflict.

A second Flydubai flight, FZ1081, initially appeared to turn back toward Dubai later Wednesday while over Saudi Arabia, although subsequent flight data indicated it continued along its scheduled route.

For Israeli investigators, however, the central question remains the one raised almost immediately after FZ1073 landed: if the man in the cockpit was indeed an Omani national who intended to destroy an Israel-bound passenger jet, how did he receive clearance to fly that route in the first place?

The approximately 174 passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia following the suspected terror attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 are preparing to return to Israel after the Mossad approved the replacement Flydubai crew sent to retrieve them, following a high-level security assessment led by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

The replacement Flydubai aircraft landed Wednesday afternoon in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the passengers have remained since their Tel Aviv-bound flight made an emergency landing following the violent cockpit attack. Passengers began boarding the new aircraft, which was expected to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport at approximately 6 p.m. Israel time. Some passengers, shaken by the ordeal, initially indicated that they did not want to board another Flydubai flight.

The decision to allow the passengers to return aboard another Flydubai aircraft came only after Israeli security officials scrutinized the replacement crew. According to Israeli reports, the Mossad examined and approved the pilots and crew members assigned to the rescue flight before Israeli authorities gave their approval for the passengers to board.

The unusual vetting followed serious questions about how the suspected attacker aboard FZ1073 was cleared to fly an aircraft bound for Israel in the first place. Israeli officials believe the copilot involved in Wednesday morning’s incident is an Omani national, although his identity and nationality have not yet been formally confirmed by Flydubai. Oman does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

Mossad Director Roman Gofman is personally overseeing Israel’s handling of the case, including contacts with Saudi authorities and the Israeli side of the investigation into the suspected attack. Israeli officials are awaiting information from the Saudi interrogation of the detained copilot as they attempt to determine his motive and whether he acted alone.

One issue being investigated is whether the suspected attacker held dual citizenship that enabled him to satisfy security requirements for Flydubai personnel assigned to Israel-bound flights. Israeli officials reportedly understand that he had worked for the Emirati carrier for less than a year.

The decision to use a Flydubai rescue plane followed several hours of discussions over how to extract the Israeli passengers from Saudi Arabia, which has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel initially examined the possibility of sending its own aircraft to Tabuk. Israeli media reported that officials considered both a civilian Israeli plane and an Israeli military aircraft, while El Al offered to conduct a special rescue flight. Saudi authorities, however, did not approve an independent Israeli evacuation operation, leaving the replacement Flydubai aircraft as the route home.

The complicated rescue operation came after Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu held a security assessment with senior defense and intelligence officials as the crisis unfolded.

“The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The passengers had been stranded in Tabuk since FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, made its emergency landing Wednesday morning after a violent confrontation erupted in the cockpit.

According to Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, one pilot attacked the other and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft. Israeli passengers rushed the cockpit and helped overpower the suspected attacker, while other qualified pilots aboard the plane helped regain control. Katz has characterized the incident as an attempted “jihadist terrorist attack.” Saudi and Flydubai authorities have not publicly adopted that characterization, and the motive remains under investigation.

The aircraft had been cruising at approximately 34,000 feet before suddenly plunging to roughly 17,000 feet. During the emergency it transmitted transponder code 7700, signaling a general emergency, and subsequently 7500, the internationally recognized code for unlawful interference or a possible hijacking.

Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities initially feared that the aircraft had been hijacked. The plane eventually landed safely in Tabuk, where Saudi security forces detained the suspected attacker. Both pilots were taken to a hospital with injuries.

Netanyahu said the attacker was now being questioned by Saudi authorities and praised those aboard the plane whose intervention he said prevented a catastrophe.

The incident has also triggered a major dispute over Flydubai’s continued operations in Israel.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev demanded that Flydubai flights to Israel be suspended pending a full investigation and instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to examine whether the airline violated aviation arrangements requiring pilots flying into Israel to carry passports from countries maintaining diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Regev’s demand reportedly produced disagreement with Shin Bet Director David Zini over how Israel should respond while the investigation is still underway.

For the passengers themselves, however, the immediate focus shifted Wednesday afternoon from the investigation to finally getting home.

After surviving the terrifying plunge, the cockpit struggle and an emergency landing in a country most of them could not ordinarily enter, the passengers were permitted to board the replacement Flydubai jet only after Israeli intelligence officials were satisfied with the crew assigned to fly them to Ben Gurion Airport.

Israeli security personnel are expected to question passengers after they arrive in Israel as investigators reconstruct exactly what happened aboard FZ1073 and determine whether the attack was planned in advance and whether the Israelis aboard the aircraft were deliberately targeted.

Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Wednesday that the terrifying midair attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was an “attempted jihadist terror attack,” saying several Israeli passengers forced their way into the cockpit, physically overpowered the attacker and enabled another flight crew aboard the jet to regain control before the aircraft could be deliberately crashed with 174 passengers aboard.

Katz’s statement represents Israel’s strongest official characterization yet of the extraordinary incident aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8, which was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when violence erupted in the cockpit and the aircraft suddenly plunged thousands of feet before diverting to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

“The grave incident on the flydubai plane was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there,” Katz said.

“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” Katz added.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu also said Wednesday afternoon that Israel’s information indicated one pilot attacked the other as the aircraft approached Israel and apparently intended to bring down the plane.

“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Netanyahu hailed the passengers who intervened as “heroes” and said their actions “prevented a major disaster.”

The suspected attacker was arrested after the emergency landing and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, according to Netanyahu. Israeli security officials are working to determine whether he acted alone or had connections to a terrorist organization or another outside entity. Thus far, no evidence of an outside sponsor has been publicly disclosed.

Israeli reports have identified the alleged attacker as an Omani copilot. The captain who was stabbed has meanwhile been identified in Indian reporting as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national who has flown as a Flydubai captain since 2022. Flydubai itself has not publicly confirmed the pilots’ identities or nationalities.

The rapidly emerging passenger accounts paint a remarkable picture of what happened inside the aircraft.

Yitzhak Lieber, one of the Israeli passengers who helped during the emergency, recorded a message from aboard the plane saying that passengers had managed to overpower the knife-wielding attacker.

“We are on the flight from Dubai. We took control here of the attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots. We simply jumped in and a few of us pulled them out of the cockpit. Everything is fine now. We are probably landing in Saudi Arabia. You can see that I am okay.”

“We will see what happens now. In just a few minutes we are landing. The terrorist has been neutralized.”

Lieber said passengers subsequently made certain that the cockpit was secured from the cabin.

“We made sure they closed the door.”

Another of the passengers now identified as having helped subdue the alleged attacker is Tzvika Manes, CEO of Barak Capital Underwriting, Bank Leumi’s underwriting arm.

Manes told Calcalist that his wife was near the cockpit because their daughter was using the restroom when she suddenly heard shouting coming from inside.

“My wife was standing near the cockpit because our daughter was in the restroom. Suddenly, she heard shouting coming from the cockpit. She yelled to a relief pilot from who was sitting nearby: ‘Go in quickly, see what’s happening.’”

“He called for help, and two other men and I entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker. I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” Manes said.

The presence of additional pilots aboard the flight may have proved critical. Israeli accounts indicate that at least two other qualified pilots were traveling as passengers or positioning crew members. Once the alleged attacker had been pulled from the cockpit, those pilots were able to help regain control and ultimately bring FZ1073 safely into Tabuk.

Manes said a physician aboard the aircraft immediately began treating the wounded captain.

“A doctor who was on board bandaged the pilot, treated him, and allowed the flight to continue,” he said.

Other passengers described the moments before the intervention as sheer terror.

Miriam, an Israeli passenger aboard the flight, said screams suddenly erupted near the cockpit approximately an hour or two before the scheduled arrival in Israel.

“About an hour or two before landing, we just started to hear screams from the plane. Someone started screaming… We just heard screams, and they opened the cockpit and saw large amounts of blood, from someone who had simply tried to murder the pilot and stabbed him with a pocketknife. Then the plane lost control.”

She said the aircraft’s movements left passengers believing they were about to die.

“We felt that this was it; we were about to crash. I was already screaming ‘Shema Yisrael’ and saying, ‘I can’t die, I’m my mother’s only daughter, I can’t do this to my mom.’”

Miriam credited Israelis aboard the aircraft with intervening and said medical professionals among the passengers rushed to help the injured pilot.

“Those who ultimately took control of the incident here were Israelis from the plane, who simply neutralized the terrorist. There was also a nurse here, and a doctor who provided first aid to the pilot. And thank God, there were several pilots on the plane, and they sort of took control of the plane, and in the end we made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.”

Importantly, Miriam herself cautioned immediately after the landing that passengers did not yet know the attacker’s motive.

“We don’t know yet. There is speculation that it might be someone from the flight crew. We really don’t know. At least, I don’t know.”

Asked how the man was overpowered, she said: “I believe it was with their own hands; I wasn’t in the cockpit.”

Flight data independently confirms that something extraordinary occurred aboard the aircraft. FZ1073 was cruising at nearly 34,000 feet when it suddenly lost an enormous amount of altitude, falling below 17,000 feet during the emergency before changing course toward Saudi Arabia.

The aircraft first transmitted transponder code 7700, signaling a general emergency. It then switched to 7500 — the internationally recognized code indicating unlawful interference, including a potential hijacking — before eventually returning to 7700.

Those signals triggered immediate alarm in Israel. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as defense officials initially feared that an airliner carrying a large number of Israelis could have been hijacked and might be approaching Israeli airspace. Netanyahu and Katz convened security consultations while senior IDF officials conducted their own assessment.

The aircraft ultimately landed at Tabuk at approximately 9:45 a.m. local time. Saudi authorities confirmed that the captain and copilot were injured and taken to a hospital, while the passengers were brought into the terminal.

Flydubai has so far avoided endorsing Israel’s description of the episode as terrorism. The airline has publicly described it only as an unspecified onboard “incident.”

“Flydubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on 30 September experienced an incident while en route,” the airline said.

“The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.”

Saudi authorities likewise have not publicly characterized the episode as a jihadist attack. Their statements have confirmed the emergency landing and injuries to the two pilots while leaving the cause to investigators.

That makes Katz’s declaration significant: Israel’s defense minister is no longer describing the terrorist explanation merely as one possibility under investigation. He is publicly asserting, based on what he called Israel’s “initial information,” that the attacker intended to deliberately destroy the aircraft and kill everyone aboard.

Netanyahu similarly said Saudi Arabia has the suspect in custody and is questioning him. Israeli authorities are examining whether he acted independently and whether the Israelis aboard the Tel Aviv-bound flight were specifically targeted.

The drama also produced an extraordinary logistical problem after the survivors suddenly found themselves stranded in Saudi Arabia, a country with which Israel has no formal diplomatic relations. Flydubai dispatched another aircraft to Tabuk to bring them the rest of the way to Tel Aviv.

But the defining account to emerge from the incident is now the extraordinary intervention inside the cockpit: according to Katz, Israeli passengers realized that the aircraft itself was in mortal danger, broke into the cockpit while the jet was plunging, wrestled the alleged attacker into submission and handed control to other pilots aboard.

Had they failed, Katz said, Israel’s preliminary assessment is that the attacker intended to crash FZ1073 with everyone aboard.

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accused Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s political allies on Wednesday of attempting to link the dramatic Flydubai incident to Netanyahu’s pre-election security warning, saying that nothing resembling the apparent attempted attack on the Tel Aviv-bound aircraft was raised during the classified security briefing he received from Netanyahu just hours earlier.

“Nothing even resembling the aircraft incident this morning appeared in the security briefing with the prime minister last night,” Lapid, a former prime minister, said. “Nothing similar, nothing reminiscent of it, not even a hint.”

Lapid’s statement came after Flydubai Flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with more than 100 Israeli passengers aboard, was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, following a violent incident involving the aircraft’s pilots. Israeli officials are investigating whether one of the pilots deliberately tried to crash the plane in what may have been an attempted terrorist attack.

Passengers and crew members reportedly intervened during the emergency and helped overpower the suspected attacker. The aircraft abruptly dropped from approximately 34,000 feet to 17,000 feet, transmitted an emergency code associated with unlawful interference, and ultimately landed safely in Saudi Arabia. Both pilots were hospitalized.

The political dispute surrounding the episode stems from Netanyahu’s striking warning just one day earlier.

Speaking Tuesday during a visit to the Tel Nof Air Force Base, Netanyahu said Israeli authorities had indications that the country’s enemies could attempt an attack in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 27 Knesset election. He did not publicly identify a specific country, terrorist organization or type of attack.

“We have indications that, ahead of the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” Netanyahu said.

“So from here, from the Air Force base, from the long arm of Israel, I am sending you a message: Don’t mess with us — not now, and not ever. Our long arm will reach you anywhere and at any time,” he added.

The comments immediately generated controversy, with Lapid and Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot demanding that Netanyahu provide opposition leaders with the intelligence underlying such a serious public warning. Eisenkot said the information, if genuine, required an immediate briefing to ensure that the warning was based on a concrete security threat rather than election politics.

Netanyahu subsequently instructed his military secretary to brief Lapid, and the two met Tuesday night for a high-level security update.

After Wednesday morning’s Flydubai emergency, Netanyahu allies and supporters pointed to the incident as potentially validating his warning. Lapid pushed back sharply, saying the threat information presented to him the previous evening bore no resemblance to what unfolded aboard FZ1073.

“All the spin the mouthpieces are putting out now only proves what was already clear yesterday: They are once again trying to play cheap politics at the expense of Israel’s security. A reckless bunch,” Lapid said.

The dispute escalated further when an unnamed “diplomatic source,” widely interpreted in Israeli media as speaking on behalf of Netanyahu, reportedly suggested that Lapid had indeed been briefed about relevant security concerns. Lapid accused the source of misrepresenting what occurred in the meeting and reiterated that the Flydubai scenario had not been raised.

The political argument is separate from the investigation into what actually happened aboard the aircraft. Israeli officials increasingly suspect that the cockpit violence may have constituted an attempted terrorist attack, but investigators have not publicly established the suspect’s motive or produced evidence that a foreign government or terrorist organization directed the incident.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to “address the intent and not the results” of the incident.

“Whoever tried to crash a plane and murder 180 Israelis must pay as if he murdered. He and every state or terrorist organization that sent him,” Smotrich wrote.

No evidence has emerged thus far establishing that the suspected attacker was acting on behalf of a state or terrorist group. Reports concerning the pilot’s identity and nationality have also remained inconsistent as Saudi authorities continue investigating the incident.

Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar focused on the intervention of those aboard the aircraft.

“Thank God Almighty for the great miracles and for the Israeli heroes who showed tremendous resourcefulness and saved many lives. Israel’s enemies will pay dearly,” Zohar wrote.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir circulated a Channel 14 report claiming that the pilot intended to carry out an attack resembling the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. That claim has not been independently established, and investigators have yet to publicly determine precisely what the suspected attacker intended to do.

“Israel has done tremendous work over the past two and a half years, but it must not stop and must continue until achieving a complete victory in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria,” Ben-Gvir wrote.

“The naive perception that our enemies value life and should be shown mercy received another reminder this morning in the form of a terrorist who planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board,” he added. “Terror is an evil that must never be met with any agreement other than defeating it and wiping it off the face of the earth.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said Wednesday that the crisis surrounding a Flydubai jet carrying approximately 180 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv was under control after the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia amid a violent cockpit incident that Israeli security officials are investigating as a possible terrorist attack.

“The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely,” Netanyahu’s office said in an official statement.

Netanyahu held urgent security consultations after Flight FZ1073 diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk rather than continuing to Ben Gurion Airport.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 landed safely in Tabuk, and Flydubai confirmed that all passengers were safe and accounted for. Saudi airport authorities said both the captain and first officer were injured and transported to a hospital following the emergency.

The exact sequence of events remained under investigation Wednesday, with important elements of the accounts circulating in Israel not yet independently established. Israeli officials said they were examining evidence that one of the pilots deliberately attacked the other and attempted to bring down the aircraft, while other reporting initially described the episode simply as a violent fight between the pilots.

Passengers have provided far more dramatic accounts, saying they intervened after one pilot allegedly attacked the other inside the cockpit and the aircraft suddenly began losing altitude.

According to Israeli reports, the suspected attacker was the copilot, described in preliminary accounts as an Omani national who had been employed by Flydubai for approximately a year. Israeli sources stressed that his identity and nationality had not yet been definitively confirmed.

The aircraft’s flight data underscored the severity of the emergency. FZ1073 initially transmitted squawk code 7700, signaling a general emergency, before switching several minutes later to 7500, the international transponder code for unlawful interference aboard an aircraft. It later returned to 7700.

Flight-tracking information showed the plane suddenly plunging from cruising altitude, descending from approximately 34,000 feet to around 19,000 feet in roughly 90 seconds. Other tracking analyses placed it below 17,000 feet during the rapid descent.

Israel scrambled fighter jets while authorities assessed whether the aircraft had been hijacked or otherwise posed a security threat. The fighters were subsequently recalled after the plane diverted safely to Saudi Arabia.

Despite reports that Israeli airspace had temporarily been closed during the incident, the Israel Airports Authority later said that was incorrect, stating that Israeli airspace remained open and airports continued operating normally throughout the emergency.

Israeli security officials were increasingly examining the incident as a possible act of terrorism rather than an ordinary dispute between crew members. At the same time, officials said they had no evidence that the suspected attacker had been dispatched or directed by a terrorist organization or foreign government.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the incident demonstrated the need for Israel to intensify its military campaigns against its enemies.

“Thank God and the heroic passengers, but Israel’s security doctrine must be taken to the next level,” Ben-Gvir said.

“We must not stop and must continue until achieving total victory in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria,” Ben-Gvir said, using the biblical names for the West Bank.

The Otzma Yehudit chairman added that “the naive belief that our enemies cherish life and should be shown mercy received another reminder this morning. Terrorism is an evil with which no agreement should be reached other than defeating it and wiping it off the face of the earth.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich similarly called for the suspected attacker, and anyone who may ultimately be found to have assisted or dispatched him, to face severe consequences.

“Anyone who tried to bring down a plane and murder 180 Israelis should pay as though they had murdered them, as should any country or terrorist organization that sent them,” Smotrich said.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev went a step further on the aviation front, demanding the immediate suspension of Flydubai flights to Israel pending an investigation into the incident.

Regev also instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to examine whether the UAE carrier had violated provisions of the aviation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates governing the eligibility of pilots assigned to flights entering Israel. Her demand followed reports that the suspected copilot was Omani, although that nationality remained unconfirmed.

Israeli media subsequently reported that Flydubai flights to Israel had been frozen following the incident as authorities examined the security implications.

Flydubai itself has been considerably more cautious in describing what occurred.

The airline confirmed only that FZ1073 “experienced an incident while en route,” adding that the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk and that every passenger had been accounted for. Flydubai said it was cooperating with authorities and would release additional information as details were confirmed.

Saudi authorities similarly stopped short of characterizing the episode as terrorism or an attempted hijacking. Tabuk airport said air traffic controllers received a distress call from FZ1073 at 8:44 a.m. local time, prompting emergency procedures before the aircraft landed at 9:45 a.m.

The Saudi statement confirmed that the captain and first officer had both suffered injuries and were hospitalized, but did not explain how those injuries occurred. Authorities said an investigation was underway while passengers were cared for in the terminal and Flydubai arranged another aircraft.

Reports indicated that Flydubai planned to dispatch a replacement plane to Tabuk to return the passengers to Israel. Some passengers, however, were reportedly reluctant to board another Flydubai aircraft so soon after the ordeal, complicating efforts to bring the group home.

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz cautioned against drawing definitive conclusions while investigators were still reconstructing what happened, saying it was “still too early to know the sequence of events” aboard the flight.

Gantz nevertheless praised the passengers’ “resourcefulness and courage” in responding to the emergency.

The incident remained under active investigation Wednesday, with Israeli authorities seeking to establish the suspected attacker’s identity and motive and determine whether the alleged attempt to bring down the aircraft was terrorism, an attempted suicide, or stemmed from another motive. Reports suggesting a suicide attempt have also surfaced, underscoring how much of the episode remains unresolved.

For Netanyahu’s government, however, the immediate priority remained the approximately 180 travelers stranded in Saudi Arabia after an extraordinary flight that began as a routine trip from Dubai to Tel Aviv and ended with two injured pilots, an emergency hijacking signal and a diversion to a country that does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

A Flydubai flight carrying roughly 180 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a violent incident erupted inside the cockpit, with Israeli officials increasingly treating the episode as a suspected terrorist attack in which a copilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to seize control of the aircraft.

Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk after plunging thousands of feet during the midair crisis. All passengers survived, while Saudi airport authorities confirmed that both the captain and first officer suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital.

An Israeli official described what happened as a case in which a “major disaster was narrowly avoided,” as investigators worked to establish whether the alleged attacker intended to deliberately crash the aircraft, bring it into Israeli airspace for an attack, or carry out some other form of hijacking.

The precise motive remains under investigation, and there have been conflicting reports about the identities and nationalities of the pilots. Israeli sources have said preliminary information indicated that the suspected attacker was an Omani national, but that detail has not been officially confirmed by Flydubai or Saudi authorities.

What has been confirmed is that the aircraft experienced an extraordinary emergency while en route to Ben Gurion Airport. According to Flightradar24, the plane first transmitted squawk code 7700, the international signal for a general emergency, at 5:31 a.m. UTC. Seven minutes later, it switched to 7500 — the code used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft — before eventually returning to 7700.

The aircraft also lost altitude at an alarming rate. Flight data showed it descending from nearly 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet in approximately a minute as the crisis unfolded.

Israeli officials initially described the emergency more cautiously as a physical altercation between the pilots. As passenger accounts, videos and additional security information emerged, however, Israeli authorities began examining the possibility that the incident was a deliberate attack rather than simply a fight inside the cockpit. Reuters reported that two Israeli officials said the working assessment had shifted toward a suspected terrorist attack.

There has been no evidence released publicly indicating that the alleged attacker was acting on instructions from a terrorist organization or foreign government.

According to accounts provided by passengers, one pilot allegedly stabbed the other and attempted to force him out of the cockpit as the aircraft began its dangerous descent. Passengers seated near the front of the plane rushed toward the cockpit after realizing that something was seriously wrong, and off-duty pilots traveling aboard the flight reportedly helped regain control of the aircraft.

Videos taken aboard FZ1073 captured the chaotic aftermath. One showed an injured and bloodied pilot lying outside the cockpit as passengers tended to him, while another crew member appeared restrained nearby.

A bloodied passenger recorded another video during the ordeal, explaining what had happened as the aircraft approached its emergency landing.

“We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point, we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help,” he says.

“We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown, unfamiliar area. On the plane, everybody is safe and sound, other than the pilot. We need help.”

Another passenger, identified as Meital, told Channel 12 that her husband was among those who rushed forward and helped overpower the alleged attacker after the trouble erupted in the cockpit.

She said a crew member in the cockpit “tried to crash the plane.”

“Someone shouted ‘stabbing’ and my husband immediately understood what was happening and rushed to the front of the plane, and along with other Israelis they neutralized the terrorist,” she said. “There were stabbings and a lot of blood.”

“We’re very emotional and under terrible stress, it’s very difficult for me to talk,” she added.

Other footage recorded after passengers intervened captured people aboard the aircraft thanking those who had helped bring the situation under control.

“You saved the plane. It’s good for you.”

Another passenger can be heard explaining, “We were attacked and were guarding the pilot.”

“They tried to murder the pilot. We subdued [the attacker],” another passenger says.

Someone then points toward a restrained man and says, “This is the man who… stabbed him.”

In another recording sent to his family, a passenger described the suspect as a “terrorist” who had attempted to take over the aircraft and said he had participated in overpowering and restraining him.

One passenger later gave a more detailed account of the struggle, saying the attacker appeared to be attempting to push the other pilot out of the cockpit so that he could control the aircraft alone. Passengers near the front joined the confrontation and ultimately removed the alleged attacker from the cockpit. Two pilots who happened to be traveling as passengers then reportedly helped control the aircraft and bring it safely to Tabuk.

An Israeli dentist aboard the flight reportedly provided emergency medical assistance to the wounded captain before the aircraft landed. The passenger who described the treatment said the captain appeared to be critically injured.

Saudi authorities have provided a more limited official account. Tabuk airport said its air traffic control center received a distress call from FZ1073 at 8:44 a.m. local time requesting an emergency landing. Emergency teams were activated, and the aircraft touched down safely at 9:45 a.m. Officials confirmed that both the captain and first officer were injured and transported to a hospital, but did not state how they sustained their injuries.

The airport said passengers were cared for inside the terminal while arrangements were made with Flydubai for a replacement aircraft. Saudi authorities said the incident remained under investigation.

Flydubai confirmed that FZ1073 had experienced an “incident” while traveling between Dubai International Airport and Ben Gurion Airport, but the airline did not publicly describe the cockpit confrontation or characterize it as terrorism.

“The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.”

Flydubai said it was cooperating with the relevant authorities and making arrangements to continue the passengers’ journey.

The crisis triggered an immediate response in Israel. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities monitored the aircraft and tried to determine whether it posed a threat, while Israel temporarily heightened its aviation security posture.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu convened urgent consultations with security officials as the incident unfolded.

“The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Israeli officials subsequently considered sending either a civilian or military aircraft to Saudi Arabia to retrieve the stranded passengers. The unusual circumstances were complicated by the fact that Israel and Saudi Arabia do not maintain formal diplomatic relations.

The incident also led IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to cancel a planned trip to the United States, according to Israeli reports. Zamir had been expected to hold talks with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper.

Israeli security officials were meanwhile seeking additional information from Saudi authorities about the suspected attacker, including his background, nationality and possible motive. Saudi investigators were questioning those involved and examining the aircraft, while Israel sought to participate in the investigation.

Images of the Boeing 737 MAX appeared to show damage near the aircraft’s tail, including part of the rudder. Aviation experts cautioned against immediately attributing that damage to an impact, with Arik Zer, a former Shin Bet aviation-security official, suggesting that the aircraft’s exceptionally violent descent could have been responsible.

The incident immediately prompted demands from Israeli officials for a full investigation into whether the alleged attack was specifically directed at Israelis.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to “address the intent and not the results” in a statement after the incident.

“Whoever tried to crash a plane and murder 180 Israelis must pay as if he murdered. He and every state or terrorist organization that sent him,” Smotrich wrote.

Despite the increasingly firm language from Israeli officials, crucial questions remained unanswered Wednesday: investigators had not publicly established the suspect’s motive, whether the incident was planned in advance, whether Israelis aboard the aircraft were specifically targeted, or whether anyone else was involved.

What was already clear was how close the flight came to catastrophe. A jetliner carrying approximately 180 people lost roughly half its cruising altitude in an extraordinarily short period, transmitted the international code for unlawful interference, and diverted into Saudi Arabia as a violent struggle unfolded aboard the aircraft — before passengers and crew members managed to bring the situation under control and the plane landed safely in Tabuk.

The wave of support for Rav Eliyahu Meir Feivelson continues to grow, with two additional senior rabbonim issuing forceful letters condemning the harassment and attacks directed against him and joining the public stand previously taken by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch and the roshei yeshiva of Ponevezh.

Rav Yehuda Silman, Raavad of Bnei Brak, and iRav Yehoshua Eichenstein, rosh yeshiva of Yad Aharon, have now issued their own letters expressing deep dismay over the conduct of extremist opponents of Rav Feivelson.

Their letters follow the extraordinary public letter issued by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshiva of Slabodka, protesting the campaign against Rav Feivelson.

That letter was subsequently joined by senior roshei yeshiva of Ponevezh, Rav Chaim Peretz Berman and Rav Dovid Miller, who likewise protested what they described as the grave assault on Rav Feivelson’s kavod.

The controversy surrounding Rav Feivelson, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Pesach Eliyahu and a prominent baal machshavah, has intensified in recent weeks, with critics targeting his approach to machshavah and hashkafah. The dispute has moved beyond ideological criticism, according to Rav Feivelson’s supporters, with incidents of harassment and aggressive demonstrations prompting an increasingly vocal response from leading rabbonim.

In his newly released letter, Rav Silman explicitly associated himself with Rav Hirsch’s earlier protest and sharply condemned the behavior directed at Rav Feivelson.

“I hereby join the letter of Maran Rosh Hayeshiva, Hagaon Hagadol Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita, and protest the rampaging and violence that supposedly stem from zealotry, but are nothing other than falsehood and a chillul Hashem,” Rav Silman wrote.

Rav Silman then offered a strong endorsement of Rav Feivelson’s continued work in harbotzas haTorah and hashkafah.

“And I bless Rav Eliyahu Meir shlita that he should continue his important work of disseminating Torah and proper hashkafah to all his talmidim. Chag sameach.”

Rav Eichenstein’s letter addresses the substance of the criticism as well, stressing that legitimate approaches in avodas Hashem can take different forms and should ultimately be judged by whether they bring people closer to Hashem and His Torah.

“I join all that was stated above. It must be understood that there are many paths to the Makom, and one can recognize whether a path is indeed a path by whether it brings its listeners and talmidim closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His Torah. It has already been demonstrated that those among his talmidim who needed this have grown closer to Torah and yiras Shomayim.”

Rav Eichenstein concluded with a bracha for Rav Feivelson to continue his work despite the opposition.

“May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help him continue bringing his talmidim closer to the Makom. Chag sameach.”

{Matzav.com}

Thousands of bochurim from Belzer yeshivos gathered on Tuesday, the third day of Chol Hamoed Sukkos, for an unusual and specially arranged tish conducted by the Belzer Rebbe in the massive sukkah outside the Belzer Bais Medrash Hagadol in Yerushalayim.

The daytime tish was arranged specifically for the bochurim, in a rare gesture intended to give them an opportunity to spend time in the presence of the Rebbe under far less crowded conditions than at the regular nightly tishen.

The regular Chol Hamoed tishen in Belz draw enormous crowds, and the packed parenchess make it difficult for many of the younger bochurim to get close enough to see the Rebbe. The special gathering was therefore structured entirely around them, allowing thousands of bochurim to participate in a more direct and organized fashion.

Considerable planning went into the seating arrangements. Each bochur was assigned a designated place based on his age and the yeshiva in which he learns, allowing the enormous gathering to proceed in an orderly and dignified manner.

The bochurim themselves also played an unusually prominent role in conducting the tish. Rather than relying entirely on the usual attendants, bochurim helped distribute the food along the tables throughout the gathering.

The singing was likewise led entirely by a choir composed of bochurim. Musical accompaniment was also provided during the tish, itself an unusual feature for a Belzer tish during Sukkos.

The gathering concluded with Birkas Hamazon, with the honor of leading the bentching given to the Rebbe’s grandson, habochur Moshe Yehoshua Rokeach.

הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק

היסטורי: עם מעל 100 שנות תורה, יחבוט הגר”מ ערבה מול שמותיכם

בשיתוף קופת העיר

19:50

כשהמלון הוא רק תירוץ, אבל אתם לוקחים ממנו את המהדרין

תוכן מקודם

07:43

המתנה המפתיעה שהעניק מנשה צרפתי לבנו החתן רגע לפני החופה

מקודם

22:07

הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק הטיש לבחורים בבעלזאצילום: אנשיל בעק {Matzav.com}

A massive electronic billboard in the heart of Times Square was used by an anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish organization to publicly denounce Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu following his blistering attack on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the United Nations, with the organizers declaring before crowds in Midtown Manhattan that “Netanyahu Does Not Represent American Jews,” “Zionism Is Not Judaism” and “Not in Our Name.”

The campaign was organized by Natruna, with funding raised from Satmar-affiliated donors in New York, according to its organizers. The Times Square display reportedly cost tens of thousands of dollars and was coordinated by R’ Moshe Dovid Katz, a Satmar activist who founded Torah Jews and serves as chairman of Natruna.

The billboard appeared at 1557 Broadway in Times Square following Netanyahu’s Sept. 24 address to the United Nations General Assembly, placing the message on one of the world’s most heavily trafficked commercial advertising corridors.

Netanyahu had devoted an unusually pointed portion of his UN address to Mamdani, accusing the mayor of spreading false accusations against Israel, associating with figures hostile to Israel and contributing to an atmosphere in which Jewish New Yorkers feel increasingly unsafe.

“To all those spreading these lies about my country and our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the anti-Semitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu then addressed Mamdani directly.

“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me, ‘This isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.’”

The prime minister went on to accuse Mamdani of praising individuals convicted of supporting Hamas and maintaining relationships with controversial figures including streamer Hasan Piker. Netanyahu also criticized people associated with Mamdani over social-media activity and contacts that he said reflected hostility toward Israel.

Explaining how the campaign was financed, R’ Katz said: “I raised these thousands of dollars, dollar by dollar, from Jewish New Yorkers who were deeply frustrated that Netanyahu was using our communities in his political battles. Many Jews feel that they are being silenced and are not properly represented. They asked that their voice be heard clearly, first and foremost, before the entire world.”

Natruna publicly described the billboard as a response to what it called Netanyahu’s “weaponization of antisemitism,” and confirmed that the Times Square advertisement cost thousands of dollars raised from Jewish New Yorkers who supported its message.

The campaign was not presented merely as a defense of Mamdani. Its messaging reflected the longstanding anti-Zionist position associated with Satmar and Natruna, rejecting the idea that the State of Israel politically represents Jews throughout the world.

Referring to the purpose of the Times Square display, R’ Katz said: “It pains us deeply to see our holy religion exploited to advance the agenda of a foreign government. Jews are not an extension of the State of Israel, Zionism is not Judaism, and Netanyahu does not represent us. We want to live in peace and tranquility with our neighbors without being dragged into political battles that are not ours.”

Natruna further argued that treating Jewish communities around the world as representatives of the Israeli government does not combat antisemitism but can instead expose Jews outside Israel to anger generated by Israeli government policies. That argument represents the organization’s ideological position and is sharply disputed within the broader Jewish community.

The Times Square campaign quickly spread well beyond New York.

Middle East Eye, which has millions of followers across its social-media platforms, highlighted the display, where the coverage quickly accumulated tens of thousands of views along with more than 1,000 likes and hundreds of shares, according to figures cited by the organizers.

The Jordanian-based Roya network also produced coverage of the campaign for its Arabic-speaking audience, exposing the Times Square demonstration to viewers throughout Jordan and elsewhere in the Arab world.

Quds News Network, a Palestinian media network with a substantial social-media following, similarly circulated images and reports about the display, generating additional views and comments across Arabic-language platforms.

The campaign also traveled to Turkey, where TRHaber reported on the billboard under a headline describing an anti-Netanyahu advertisement in Times Square. Its coverage focused heavily on Natruna’s ideological distinction between Judaism and Zionism.

The story reached audiences still farther afield through Independent Urdu, the Urdu-language edition affiliated with The Independent, bringing the campaign to readers in Pakistan and other Urdu-speaking communities.

The result was precisely the international amplification the organizers had sought: an advertisement purchased in Manhattan was soon being circulated among English-speaking audiences in the West, Arabic-speaking audiences across the Middle East, Turkish readers and Urdu-speaking audiences in South Asia.

Natruna also used the publicity to direct viewers to their own website, where the Times Square footage was prominently displayed alongside material explaining the organization’s opposition to Zionism.

The site highlighted the campaign with the phrases “As Seen in Times Square” and “Yes, That Was Us,” before directing visitors to explanations of why the billboard had been commissioned and the ideology of the organization behind it.

The campaign follows other recent public statements by Satmar-associated anti-Zionist activists defending Mamdani against accusations of antisemitism. Torah Jews published a statement in August highlighting the Satmar Rebbe’s opposition to labeling Mamdani an antisemite, and in July published another message telling Netanyahu to “Leave Us Out Of Your Mess.”

{Matzav.com}

Investigators working for special counsel Jack Smith obtained communications involving nearly 50 journalists at some of the country’s largest news organizations as part of the federal investigation into President Trump and the aftermath of the 2020 election, according to newly disclosed records presented Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.

The journalists were not themselves directly subpoenaed for the messages at issue in the latest disclosure. Instead, their communications were swept up when Smith’s team obtained archived text messages from dozens of government-issued phones used by officials in the first Trump White House. The same collection previously was revealed to contain communications involving 44 current and former members of Congress.

“Jack Smith obtained internal communications from DOZENS of national media outlets communicating with government sources,” the official account for the Senate Judiciary Republicans announced in a Tuesday X post.

“What will the partisan media say about this disgraceful government overreach?” the Senate Judiciary Republicans added.

According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, nearly 50 journalists were represented in the communications obtained by investigators. The committee has not publicly identified the individual reporters, citing privacy concerns.

The news organizations represented in the records span virtually every segment of the national media. They include Fox News, CNN, CBS News and 60 Minutes, NBC News, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Reuters, the Associated Press, NPR, The Mark Levin Show, The Federalist, the Washington Times and the Media Research Center.

The communications were captured through a June 2023 subpoena issued to the National Archives and Records Administration for text messages stored on phones associated with officials who served in the Trump White House. The request sought messages covering October 2020 through Jan. 20, 2021, from phones associated with a lengthy roster of Trump administration figures.

Among those whose government phones were covered were Trump himself, Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway and Mike Pence.

The National Archives turned over the material to Smith’s office on Aug. 21, 2023. According to records previously released by Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, senior Smith prosecutor Thomas Windom began downloading the material within roughly half an hour, and other investigators began accessing it shortly afterward.

That timing has become central to a dispute over whether the special counsel’s investigative team followed procedures intended to keep potentially privileged material away from prosecutors.

Justice Department records released by Grassley and Johnson showed that a separate filter team had been established to examine material collected in Smith’s election and classified-documents investigations before potentially privileged information reached the investigative team. The lawmakers have alleged that investigators bypassed that process when reviewing the White House text messages.

“What will the partisan media say about this disgraceful government overreach? This wasn’t a normal prosecution by any means,” Sen. Grassley told Fox News.

The newly revealed journalist communications broaden an already contentious controversy over the scope of Smith’s investigation, known within the FBI as Arctic Frost.

Earlier congressional disclosures showed that the same White House phone records contained communications to and from 44 members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats — including Sens. Grassley, Ron Johnson, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, Cory Booker, Rand Paul, Rick Scott, Susan Collins and Tim Scott, among others.

Smith’s team also used separate legal process to obtain telephone metadata associated with lawmakers. Smith defended those subpoenas at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, saying they were relevant to determining who was communicating with the White House as Congress prepared to certify the 2020 election results. The metadata generally reflected information such as the timing and duration of communications rather than their content.

The National Archives production was different because it included the actual content of text messages stored on White House devices — including exchanges with lawmakers and, as Tuesday’s disclosure revealed, journalists.

Grassley and Johnson have repeatedly pressed the Justice Department and FBI for information about what procedures were used to identify and segregate potentially privileged material before prosecutors examined it.

“We are writing to determine what procedures and protocols, if any, Smith and his team used to filter privileged or potentially privileged materials from being impermissibly accessed, reviewed and/or used,” the senators wrote.

The lawmakers have sought records identifying which officials reviewed the material, what privilege safeguards were applied and whether the investigative team encountered attorney-client, congressional or other potentially protected communications.

The Media Research Center was among the organizations whose communications appeared in the records. Its president, David Bozell, had previously criticized major television networks for providing little coverage of congressional disclosures concerning the breadth of Smith’s investigation.

The journalist revelation also comes after Grassley disclosed a much wider set of subpoenas from Arctic Frost. In October 2025, the Judiciary Committee released 197 subpoenas issued to 34 individuals and 163 businesses that sought information concerning at least 430 Republican individuals and organizations. Some sought communications with media companies, members and employees of Congress, Trump White House advisers and Republican donors.

Grassley disclosed additional information at Tuesday’s hearing indicating that Smith’s investigation also obtained financial information connected to thousands of Americans. Smith confirmed during the hearing that his team subpoenaed financial records as part of the criminal investigation, while defending the investigation as evidence-based and lawful.

Smith rejected Republican allegations that the investigation was politically motivated or designed to target Trump’s political allies. During his Senate testimony Tuesday, he said the subpoenas were issued because investigators believed the information was relevant to determining whether crimes had been committed in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Republicans, led by Grassley, have characterized the breadth of the subpoenas as evidence that the investigation extended far beyond a narrowly focused examination of Jan. 6.

Grassley noted that some subpoenas sought records dating as far back as 2019 and continuing through 2023, and argued that the collection of financial records, congressional communications and media-source communications demonstrated the extraordinary reach of the investigation.

Smith disputed that characterization at Tuesday’s hearing, defending his prosecutors and saying their investigative decisions were driven by the evidence rather than politics. He also defended efforts to obtain lawmakers’ records as necessary to reconstruct communications between the White House and members of Congress during the events surrounding Jan. 6.

The Senate Judiciary Committee says it has determined the identities of the journalists whose communications appeared in the archived White House messages but does not intend to release their names because of privacy concerns.

The disclosure nevertheless raises a separate set of questions about the handling of reporter-source communications contained within government records, particularly what restrictions, if any, governed investigators’ ability to examine material involving journalists who were not targets of the investigation.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump on Tuesday unveiled America.gov, a sweeping new artificial intelligence-powered government portal intended to give Americans a single place to find federal information and, eventually, complete tasks ranging from renewing passports to enrolling in Medicare.

The new platform, which draws information from roughly 29,000 government websites, currently functions primarily as an AI-powered information and navigation service. The Trump administration says it plans to expand the site later this year and into early 2027 so Americans can complete forms, applications and renewals directly through America.gov rather than being redirected from one federal agency website to another.

”It’s not just simply a website,” Trump said during the launch event, according to the Washington Examiner. ”It’s a restoration of America’s founding promise and it’s a reinvention of your government for the 21st century and beyond.”

Trump presented America.gov at an event at Washington’s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium as an attempt to fundamentally redesign the way ordinary Americans interact with the federal bureaucracy. The president described the project as one of the most consequential technological initiatives undertaken by the government.

“With America.gov, the federal government no longer stands in your way and it stands only at your service,” Trump said during his remarks.

The portal is designed as what administration officials describe as a digital concierge. Rather than requiring someone to determine which department or agency is responsible for a particular service and then navigate that agency’s website, users can simply describe what they need in everyday language.

”Instead of forcing citizens to search through the endless maze of tens of thousands of terrible government websites,” Trump said, according to the Journal, ”you’ll now have one front door for every single question.”

At launch, the website allows users to type or speak questions into a chat-style interface. The system searches government information and produces an answer while directing users to the underlying official sources. No account is required simply to use the question-and-answer feature.

The platform can already assist users looking for information on such matters as replacing a Social Security card, comparing Medicare plans, obtaining a national park pass, registering a business and finding other government services. The General Services Administration says the portal can also help users find information about benefits, passport renewals and Social Security.

What America.gov generally cannot yet do is complete those transactions from beginning to end. The White House says that later this year users are expected to be able to perform tasks such as passport renewal and Medicare enrollment directly through the platform, with broader form, application and renewal capabilities targeted for early 2027.

Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing the federal government to build toward that much broader system.

The order instructs the General Services Administration, White House National Design Studio and Office of Management and Budget to establish America.gov as the primary digital entry point for major public-facing federal services. Agencies will be required to integrate qualifying services with the platform under guidance issued by OMB.

The mandate generally covers online federal services used by more than 100,000 people during a 12-month period. IRS tax-filing services and national-security-sensitive services are specifically excluded.

The administration also intends to integrate Login.gov into America.gov, eventually allowing users to authenticate themselves before conducting government business through the same centralized platform.

Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who serves as the United States chief design officer and leads the White House National Design Studio, has played a central role in creating the system. Trump praised Gebbia at Tuesday’s event as one of the driving forces behind the administration’s effort to overhaul the government’s digital infrastructure.

Under the hood, America.gov is powered in part by Google’s Gemini and Grok, the AI system developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, according to Gebbia. Google publicly confirmed its involvement as a technology partner in the project.

The system does not require Americans to know which agency controls the information they are seeking. Instead, its AI can search across tens of thousands of government sites and attempt to find the relevant answer based on a plain-language request.

Trump said that capability could remove one of the longstanding frustrations of dealing with Washington: having to understand the organizational structure of the federal government simply to figure out where to begin.

The administration says America.gov is also intended to address the enormous amount of time Americans collectively spend complying with federal paperwork requirements. The White House has cited billions of hours annually devoted to forms and administrative requirements as evidence that the existing system is unnecessarily burdensome.

The site is being introduced in stages rather than as a finished replacement for existing agency websites. For now, individual agencies continue to operate the underlying services while America.gov serves as the centralized layer through which users can locate information and find their way to them.

As transactional capabilities are added, the administration envisions Americans being able to remain on America.gov while completing increasingly complex government business instead of being sent through multiple agency websites.

The project nevertheless faces significant technical, legal and administrative hurdles. Federal programs operate under different statutes, regulations, identity-verification requirements and data systems, meaning that bringing them together under one interface will require far more than simply building a new website. Experts have also pointed to the need for safeguards against inaccurate AI-generated answers, particularly when mistakes could affect benefits, immigration matters or application deadlines.

The site itself says its answers are drawn from official government sources and provides links allowing users to examine the underlying material. It also warns that it does not provide legal, financial or tax advice.

America.gov’s AI produced some unexpected results almost immediately after its launch. When reporters tested the system with political questions Tuesday, it initially provided answers based on official federal records that conflicted with some of Trump’s own public assertions. The site subsequently began declining to answer some political questions, saying it could not address them.

The rollout is part of a much broader push by the Trump administration to accelerate the federal government’s adoption of artificial intelligence. Tuesday’s America.gov event coincided with a major White House gathering of technology leaders as Trump promoted the potential of increasingly advanced AI systems.

Trump has argued that the United States must maintain its technological advantage over China and has resisted calls for restrictions that he believes could slow American AI development.

“I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution,” Trump said Tuesday. “We can’t stifle it, and we’re leading by a lot.”

With America.gov, the administration is attempting to put that technology directly into Americans’ everyday dealings with Washington — turning tens of thousands of government websites into what Trump says should eventually become a single digital entrance to the federal government.

”This is an incredible transformation,” Trump said, according to Spectrum News.

More than 60 million American children are set to receive Trump Accounts automatically beginning around Oct. 1, under new Treasury Department rules that dramatically expand the child investment program by eliminating the need for parents or guardians to take the first step of opening an account.

The temporary regulations, issued Tuesday by the Treasury Department and IRS, authorize the government to establish accounts for eligible children under 18 who have Social Security numbers and do not already have Trump Accounts. Treasury expects to continue automatically adding eligible children in the future, with roughly 2 million additional accounts projected for each new annual birth cohort.

The move represents a major change from the program’s original opt-in structure, under which an authorized adult generally had to submit Form 4547 to establish an account. Treasury concluded that automatic enrollment would substantially increase participation after early enrollment numbers showed that only a fraction of eligible children had been signed up.

The program’s official website declares, “The American Dream starts now” and promotes “long-term financial security for millions of kids” through the Trump Accounts program.

Automatic enrollment will apply only when an account has not already been established for the child. Children whose parents or other authorized individuals previously opened accounts will therefore not receive duplicate accounts.

There is, however, a significant distinction between automatically receiving an account and automatically receiving money from Washington.

The government’s $1,000 seed contribution is available only to eligible U.S. citizen children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, and an authorized individual must specifically elect to receive that payment. Treasury cannot make that election on the family’s behalf merely because it automatically created the account.

That means millions of children may soon have Trump Accounts in their names without any action from their parents, but families with children eligible for the $1,000 federal contribution will still have to request the money.

Automatically created accounts will initially have more limited functionality as well. They can receive certain government and nonprofit contributions, but a parent or guardian must claim control of the account before ordinary family or employer contributions can be deposited.

Parents will be required to establish their identity and demonstrate their legal authority over the child’s finances through the Treasury’s online system or Trump Accounts app. The regulations outline that process, although some operational details concerning how families will take control of automatically created accounts remain to be finalized.

Once an account is fully activated and controlled by an authorized adult, families and others can generally contribute as much as $5,000 annually, with that limit scheduled to be adjusted for inflation after 2027. Employer contributions of as much as $2,500 can count toward the annual limit. Government and qualifying charitable contributions are treated separately and do not count toward the $5,000 ceiling.

The money is designed to remain invested over the child’s youth, primarily in qualifying low-cost funds tracking broad U.S. stock indexes. Distributions generally cannot begin during the account’s designated growth period, which runs through the end of the year before the beneficiary turns 18.

After that point, the account transitions into the broader IRA framework, with withdrawals subject to the applicable tax and distribution rules.

Treasury’s decision to switch to automatic enrollment follows figures showing a striking gap between the number of children eligible for the program and the number whose families had voluntarily enrolled them.

By July 30, Treasury had processed approximately 5.6 million electronic Form 4547 submissions, compared with an estimated 73.4 million children potentially eligible for Trump Accounts. Treasury officials subsequently said total applications had climbed above 7 million.

The disparity was especially pronounced among families reporting no income. According to figures cited in the new rules, only about 10,000 applications had come from that group even though approximately 8.6 million eligible children live in such households.

Treasury cited evidence from retirement plans and state child-savings initiatives showing that automatic or opt-out enrollment tends to produce substantially greater participation than systems requiring people to actively sign up.

The automatic-account system could also greatly increase the reach of major private philanthropic commitments to Trump Accounts.

Among the largest is the $6.25 billion commitment announced by Michael and Susan Dell to benefit children born from 2016 through 2024 who live in qualifying ZIP codes with median household incomes below $150,000. Automatic enrollment could allow children whose parents never independently opened an account to benefit from such large-scale contributions.

The White House said in July that more than 50 companies had also committed to making Trump Account contributions for the children of employees.

The regulations additionally permit certain donors to contribute publicly traded stock rather than only cash. Such securities generally must remain in the account for a specified holding period, including a five-year requirement in circumstances covered by the new rules.

Trump Accounts were created under the tax and spending legislation signed by President Trump in July 2025 and are structured as a special form of individual retirement account for children. The program formally began accepting funded accounts in July 2026.

President Trump has promoted the accounts as a way to give children an ownership stake in the American economy from an early age.

“This is a pro-family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation. And they’ll really be getting a big jump on life.”

With Treasury now moving from voluntary enrollment to automatic account creation, the program is poised to expand from several million participants to tens of millions within a short period — although parents of children eligible for the government’s $1,000 seed payment will still have to take action to obtain it.

{Matzav.com}