In the aftermath of the Flydubai FZ1073 hijacking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the publicly unidentified co-pilot responsible was indoctrinated by radical Islam. The Omani national who almost killed over 170 people on Wednesday morning was also suicidal, Netanyahu explained during a Thursday appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“This was a premeditated hijack attempt by the co-pilot. That’s very unique. We don’t see that usually,” Eyal Hulata, senior international fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former head of Israel’s National Security Council, observed during Thursday’s “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.”

Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot, quickly became a hero in the disaster. As the plane rapidly plunged toward the ground, Machchhar managed to open the door of the cockpit, despite being stabbed by the aggressor. Passengers rushed to help, subduing the co-pilot who was attempting to crash the plane. A pilot in training who happened to be a passenger was able to stabilize the fight, leading the plane to a safe landing in Saudi Arabia. 

“That’s a huge catastrophe that was averted,” Hulata said. “This could have been a very different conversation unless of the brave act by the pilot himself and the fellow passengers who were able to intervene on time.”

Hulata noted the slight similarity of the incident to the fatal events of 9/11. “Airplane security and safety is usually aiming at potential threats coming from passengers hijacking planes like the ones that happened on September 11, 25 years ago. This was a case where the co-pilot, in fact, [was the] threat itself. “

“One of the things that happened after September 11th is that no one can get into a cockpit of an airplane to prevent passengers [from] rushing in [and] taking control. In [this] case, the problem was actually in reverse. There was no ability to get into the cockpit and to intervene, if it wasn’t for the captain that opened the door from the inside,” noted

Tim Miller, president and founder of LionHeart International Services Group and a former Secret Service Special Agent, during Wednesday’s “Washington Watch.”

Miller went on to link the incident with the global pattern of anti-Semitism that has been occurring. “The world should not tolerate the targeting of Jewish people wherever they are on an ongoing basis. And, you know, it’s interesting we saw what happened with Prime Minister Netanyahu and half the world walking out,” he described, referring to many of the world leaders in the room at the United Nations General Assembly last week walking out when Netanyahu took the stage to speak. “And it’s truly a tragedy that these events … [are] going to continue to increase.”

Hulata explained that the unidentified pilot is still in Saudi Arabia under interrogation, and that the injured pilot was reportedly transferred back to the United Arab Emirates for his treatment. “Flydubai, [and] the Emirati services, of course, are investigating this as well, and I believe that they will be able to get to the bottom of this. Of course, Israel has very close connections with the Emirates.”

Hulata continued that the questions remaining surround the motives of the alleged terrorist and his associations. “There have been already stories coming out. I heard President Trump already suggested himself that there are connections to Iran. We don’t [know] that for certain. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case, but we do need to get to the bottom of this to understand why this happened … so that measures could be taken to prevent something similar to this happening again.”

“We’re talking about a pilot that is relatively new in the airline that has been going through a process of radicalization, which would suggest that he has motives that are murderous, that are potentially jihadist [in order to] target Israelis at this … very delicate [time],” Hulata added. “The connections that he might have had to other origins such as state sponsored terror — this would be important to understand [in order] to isolate this situation.”