Israel's deputy ambassador to Romania, Erez Golan, on Wednesday praised the 'extraordinary courage' of Israeli passengers who intervened during a serious incident aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, saying their actions helped prevent a potential tragedy.

In a Facebook statement, Golan described the incident as a planned terrorist act and said the passengers, together with crew members, acted decisively to stop the suspected attacker and save lives.

'Today, one of the biggest terror attacks in history was stopped! What happened today in the skies of the Middle East is a chilling event that could have ended in a total disaster if not for incredible bravery. A terrorist wearing a pilot's uniform tried to crash a plane belonging to an Emirati airline, carrying over 170 passengers - almost all of them Israeli citizens, except for three. This was not a regular flight incident. It was a planned act of terror and one of the largest attack attempts the world has ever seen,' the diplomat wrote.



According to him, 'the goal was not just to crash a plane and kill innocent people on board and on the ground, but to hit the heart of peace, ruin normalization and destroy the Abraham Accords.'

'This attempt to repeat 9/11 was stopped thanks to real heroes: brave Israeli passengers who, together with the crew, broke into the cockpit, stopped the terrorist pilot, took control and saved hundreds of lives on the plane (and on the ground). Unfortunately, this is another proof that Israel is the most threatened country in the world. We see again and again that jihadist terror stops at nothing. Choosing a flight by an Emirati airline full of Israeli passengers was no coincidence. It was a clear attempt to harm the partnership between Israel and the Gulf states,' Israel's deputy ambassador said.

His comments came after a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia following a violent brawl in the cockpit involving the two pilots, with the co-pilot stabbing the pilot and attempting to crash the plane. The dramatic incident was only defused after passengers helped subdue the co-pilot, before other on-duty pilots employed by the airline on the plane landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.

The Dubai state-owned airline warned against 'premature speculation' and said much remained unclear. The aircraft later continued its journey and landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot had stabbed the other and appeared to have attempted to crash the plane. Flydubai said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Tudor Martalogu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)

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