Binish Thomas (Special Correspondent)
Dubai/Tel Aviv, A flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel narrowly escaped disaster on Wednesday when the co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly attacked the captain in the cockpit.
The captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was stabbed. Israeli officials say the attacker then tried to crash the aircraft.
The jet dropped nearly 14,000 feet within seconds. Despite his injuries, Captain Machchhar triggered the cockpit door release before collapsing.
That let passengers and crew rush in and overpower the co-pilot.
The aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry says the combined courage of the Indian captain, Israeli passengers and Emirati crew saved 174 lives.
Machchhar was treated in Saudi Arabia and has been moved to Abu Dhabi. India’s embassy says he is recovering well.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both praised him. Israel has called the incident a terror attack, but the investigation is ongoing and the co-pilot’s motive has not been officially confirmed.
The incident has drawn fresh attention to the relationship between the two countries.
A friendship rooted in history :
Jewish communities have lived in India for centuries, including the Cochin Jews of Kerala and the Bene Israel of Maharashtra.
They are often cited as having lived in India without facing persecution, at a time when Jews faced it in many other parts of the world.
Local rulers gave them land and the freedom to practise their faith. After Israel’s creation, many of these families emigrated, and their descendants still keep a cultural link with India.
India recognised Israel in 1950 but established full diplomatic relations only in 1992.
Since then, cooperation has grown quickly in defence, agriculture, water management and technology.
How Israel has helped India :
Before the Kargil War. Israel is reported to have supplied India with mortars and ammunition during the 1962 war with China, and again in the 1971 war. These accounts come from historians and memoirs, and details vary.
The Kargil War (1999). This is the best-known case. According to widely published accounts, Israel quickly gave India several kinds of help:
• Ammunition and mortars: Israel supplied artillery and mortar ammunition when Indian stocks were under heavy demand.
• Precision weapons: Israeli laser-guided bomb systems and targeting equipment helped the Indian Air Force strike enemy positions on high mountain ridges with precision.
• Surveillance: Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and imagery helped track enemy positions in the mountains.
• Timing: The help came when India was under diplomatic pressure and few countries would sell weapons freely.
The exact quantities were never fully made public, so reports differ on the details.
After Kargil. Israel became one of India’s major defence partners. Its systems include the Heron drones, the Barak air-defence missiles (developed jointly) and the Spice precision-guided bombs.
Indian forces have used these systems in later operations, including surgical strikes. Israel also fast-tracked supplies to India during emergencies in later years.
Israel’s parliament (the Knesset) has acknowledged how India welcomed and supported Jews during their time of persecution and has made a public statement about it.
According to ground reports, ordinary Israelis hold India and its people close to their hearts. Many Israeli leaders, not only Benjamin Netanyahu, want to build a stronger relationship with India, and several earlier prime ministers have also spoken warmly of India.
