Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the suspected attacker aboard a flydubai flight had undergone Islamist radicalization and intended to crash the aircraft with its passengers on board, warning that “whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price”. The remarks come as investigators examine whether the assault on Indian Captain Smit Machchhar was directed by an outside party.“As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the perpetrator underwent Islamist radicalization. He came to smash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said.“We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”The comments came after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Machchhar aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The aircraft, carrying 174 people, plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the situation was brought under control.Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to enter and overpower the attacker. Two off-duty Flydubai pilots who were on board then helped take control of the aircraft, which landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.Netanyahu had earlier said the attacker was being interrogated and that Israeli investigators had joined the questioning.“The attacker, the co-pilot who attacked the captain, is now being interrogated. What we know so far is that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” Netanyahu told Fox News.He also said the initial investigation suggested the co-pilot was suicidal.“He is lying on the floor and he calls out to the crew ‘kill me, kill me’. So, it is clear that he was suicidal and was going to down the plane,” Netanyahu said.However, the motive and any possible outside involvement have not been conclusively established. The UAE has launched an investigation into the circumstances and motives. Earlier, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash has described the cockpit attack as a “dangerous terrorist act”, marking a significant official characterisation of the incident. Additionally, Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Yaniv Revach, also condemned the incident as an act of terror. Speaking to ANI, Revach said, “First of all, I don’t think that it might be a terror attack. It is a terror attack. So there’s not even a question or a doubt about it.” He also expressed gratitude for Machchhar’s “exceptional behaviour”.Netanyahu has also praised Machchhar and the passengers who intervened. “I think what happened is a tremendous act of heroism that prevented another 9/11 style crash of an entire airplane,” he told CBS News.Machchhar, who is recovering in Abu Dhabi, later spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by video call. Recalling the moment the aircraft began losing altitude, he said: “I knew that the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground. I told myself that the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it and people entered.”