00:00Well, we've seen that thanks to the amazing bravery, courage and resolve of Captain Smith
00:07Machar, the Indian pilot, that 180 passengers were saved.
00:14He, despite the fact that he was stabbed by his co-pilot, he's been able to open the
00:18door to the cabin, and that allowed the bravery of others.
00:22The passengers, three Israeli passengers that penetrated the cabin, neutralized the attacker,
00:29and then afterwards called both the doctor that took care of Captain Smith
00:34and the crew that came and took over the flight, took the controls of the flight.
00:44There were two pilots, additional pilots that were sitting with the passenger at the plane.
00:48So thanks to the combination of the actions, the united action of both the captain,
00:54the crew members, and the passengers, this flight was saved.
00:59Yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu called the pilot as a hero, also Prime Minister Modi called him as a hero,
01:05and had he not opened the cockpit, you know, the face of the tragedy would have been different.
01:09What will you say on the courage of the pilot and also the presence of mind that he had?
01:14Well, I think that he should be praised, and not only our Prime Minister,
01:20but also our President and the head of the Israeli Parliament
01:22and the entire people of Israel are admiring the fact that Captain Smith Machar
01:30used all his experience, his character, to really do what was needed to do,
01:40because if he wouldn't have opened the door, the plane could have crashed,
01:44the plane could have penetrated Israel airspace.
01:47We don't know exactly what could have happened at that moment,
01:51and thanks to the combination, this united front against the Assad and the terrorists,
01:57we now have 180 people saved.
02:01Do you also call it as a terror incident?
02:04Because yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu met with one of the Israeli passengers who actually saved,
02:08and so do you refer it, and he actually called it as, you know, a vaulting line, 9-11,
02:14another 9-11 could have happened.
02:16What will you see on that, sir?
02:17Absolutely.
02:18I think that another 9-11 could have happened,
02:21whether this attacker would have been able to take control of the flight.
02:28And thanks to the combination of the action, the activity, the resolve of the Indian pilot
02:37that deserves praise and was praised and will be praised even more,
02:42we now have a different situation.
02:45Do we also have any investigation, and is Israel cooperating with the Saudi authorities
02:49or even the UN, you know, carrying out the investigation?
02:52Since Abram Accords have been signed, we have more and more communication and cooperation
02:57between intelligence agencies in our region, between security agencies,
03:02the civil aviation authorities, and I'm sure that all the information that is going to come out,
03:07both of the investigation of the attacker, the black box of the plane,
03:12all these things are going to be hopefully shared so we can draw the conclusions,
03:17understand what happened, and try to prevent such events in the future.
03:21And so what is the status of the passengers that were there?
03:25I believe the flight has already been landed in Tel Aviv.
03:28What is the status of the passengers?
03:29Well, the passengers are safe.
03:30We had our, you know, health teams delivered to the airport
03:37to make sure that everything, everybody is okay.
03:40We heard the testimonies of the Israelis on the flight,
03:45and I think that everybody now is safe and sound.
03:47Are you also going to increase the security of the crew members
03:51who are going, you know, to fly during that?
03:54Well, I'm sure that the professional agencies are going to take another look at the protocols.
04:01Many of these protocols were actually activated as a result of the hijack alert
04:06that was sent by the pilot, and district protocols are going to have to be revised,
04:12so we make sure that not only we can prevent in the future such incidents,
04:18but if they happen, to deal with them as diligently as possible.
04:22Last question, Ambassador.
04:23We are also very close to the October 7th attack when Hamas attacked Israel,
04:27and now we have seen this incident.
04:30Fortunately, there were no casualties.
04:32What will you say on that?
04:33Well, this attack happened at a crucial moment,
04:36a very sensitive moment in the region,
04:38where in Israel we're going to have elections,
04:40where only a few days back Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the UAE
04:45and consulted, according to reports, with leaders of the region.
04:48Each time that you have intensification of cooperation of countries in the region
04:54that are interested in prosperity, in fighting terrorism,
04:58you have terrorists that are trying to challenge that,
05:00like unfortunately happened in the terrible massacre of the 7th of October.
05:05We'll see you next time.
