Israel Katz
Role at the time: Minister of Defense of Israel, in a statement issued through his office
Response to this claim
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on September 30, 2026 that the incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 was "an attempted jihadist terrorist attack" and that, according to the initial information in Israel's possession, "the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers."
“The serious incident on the Flydubai aircraft was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack that was thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and with their own hands returned control of the aircraft to an additional flight crew that was present there ... According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers.”
Ynet's English translation of Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's Hebrew statement, including his later remarks on security warnings. Other outlets translate the same statement with slightly different wording.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. Katz said the incident was "an attempted jihadist terrorist attack" and that the intention was to crash the aircraft with all its passengers, which asserts the proposition. He framed it as based on "initial information" and did not describe the evidence. We labeled it Condemned. His "terrorist" and "jihadist" characterizations are a separate question this case does not decide. We record them only because they come with his statement about the intention to crash the aircraft.