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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it is "too early to say" whether Iran was behind a cockpit attack aboard a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, as he praised an Israeli passenger credited with stabilizing the plunging jet.
The flight, carrying 174 passengers, diverted to Saudi Arabia after a pilot was allegedly attacked by his co-pilot.
FlyDubai said the circumstances and motives remain unknown and are the subject of a formal investigation.
The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions over the U.S.-Iran war.
Netanyahu said Israel may take part in the investigation, while U.S. President Donald Trump said the co-pilot was "perhaps a terrorist, or perhaps a whack-job."
"It's too early to say," Netanyahu told Fox News, adding that the alleged attacker was being investigated in Saudi Arabia.
"I think he'll be taken to the Emirates, where he comes from, or at least where he left, where he flew off from, and we'll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation," he said.
"We'll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we'll find out very soon," Netanyahu said.
"I don't know the exact background of this person, the attacker, but he obviously hated Israelis because he was going to kill about 170 of them on this plane, killing himself, too," he said, blaming what he called hatred and antisemitism.
Netanyahu credited an Israeli passenger, identified by Fox News as Yaniv Chayon and described by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as a plumber, with entering the cockpit after the wounded captain unlocked the door.
The passenger "managed to enter the cockpit, he saw the attacker" and "grabbed him from behind, pulled him back, got into the pilot's seat, pulled the stick back" while others subdued the attacker, Netanyahu said.
"An amazing act of heroism, of his, of the Indian pilot, of the people who helped them. They stopped a disaster that could have been global," he said, describing "tremendous courage that prevented another 9/11."
"Just think about it... If you're next hijacked, make sure an Israeli is sitting next to you," Netanyahu said.
The FlyDubai jet plunged 17,000 feet in about a minute, according to Flightradar24 data cited by AFP.
Reports said a confrontation in the cockpit triggered a hijacking code.
The captain, identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, is "fighting for his life," Netanyahu said. "Apparently, he stabbed him, or he hit him with an ax. He was bleeding profusely," he said.
Netanyahu met passengers at Tel Aviv's airport, footage released by his office showed.
"I did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event, and it seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot," Trump told reporters.
Trump said he could not confirm the account. "Now this is the story that I heard. I don't know if it's true, but that's the story that I got from BB," he said.
The State Department said four Americans were aboard.
"We are working with local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance to any and all Americans aboard the flight," a spokesperson said.
The motive behind the FlyDubai attack remains under investigation.
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