At event with IDF wounded and security officials

Netanyahu: "Chain of miracles" on flight

Prime Minister describes how passenger Yaniv Chiyon charged forward in falling plane, broke into cockpit, pulled attacker off controls and stopped him, We could have been sitting here in national mourning

Eliana Fleming

OCT 1, 2026 20:06

2 min read

Netanyahu at Knesset Sukkah: Chain of Miracles Saved Fly Dubai Flight

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a Sukkot event in the Knesset sukkah Wednesday, speaking before senior security officials, wounded IDF soldiers, reservists' wives and students from the Tavor pre-military academy.

During his remarks, the prime minister described the attempted terror attack on the Fly Dubai flight to Tel Aviv that was stopped at the last moment. "One man, on his own initiative, named Yaniv Chiyon, saw what was happening, ran forward in a plane that was about to fall, managed to break through the door, grabbed the attacker, pulled him back and stopped him," Netanyahu recounted.

"He grabbed the plane's controls, pulled back, and allowed others, also heroes, to stop the attacker. They handcuffed him with the headphone cord," the prime minister continued.

"A doctor came to treat him, there was tremendous commotion among the passengers, and he tells his wife to calm them down. Backup pilots who happened to be on the plane joined in, stabilized it and landed," Netanyahu added.

"There is a limit to the miracles that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us. This was a chain of miracles and siyata d'Shmaya," the prime minister said. "We could have been sitting here today in national mourning, and there was a great salvation here."