Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz:
The serious incident aboard the FlyDubai aircraft was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack, 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 returned control of the aircraft to an additional flight crew that was present there.
According to the preliminary information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers aboard.
When the Prime Minister and I issue security warnings and alerts based on intelligence, everyone would do well—including our enemies abroad and out-of-date former officials at home—to listen and take them seriously.
Every warning has multiple intended audiences and purposes. Most importantly, the warnings never come at the expense of the proactive and offensive operations we are leading together with the IDF against every threat—and they are no substitute for them.