Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with four of the passengers from the hijacked flydubai flight who helped restrain the terrorist who attacked the pilot on Thursday.
Netanyahu met with Yaniv Hayoun, Or Pardilov, Dr. Shota Musayev, and Sigalit Musayev.
During the conversation with Netanyahu, the passengers revealed that they tied up the terrorist, an unidentified Omani pilot, with a headphone cable in the cockpit.
"We tied the stabbing pilot with the headphone cable. He was saying 'Kill me' – meaning that he failed at his mission and prefers to die," one passenger told the prime minister.
The group added that they told the attacker to speak English to the crew so they could all understand what he was saying, and that, at the time, they were unsure whether any other members of the flight crew were involved in the attack.
“We tried to maintain control over the situation, because we couldn’t trust anyone," one passenger said in a video released by Netanyahu's office.
Netanyahu says flydubai 'heroes' will light torch on Independence Day
Netanyahu repeated his call from earlier this week for Israelis to remain vigilant as the country heads to elections.
"I urge the citizens of Israel to learn from you, to keep their eyes open and be vigilant. We are in a very sensitive time. There is an intent of our enemies to harm us," Netanyahu said.
The prime minister also told the four that they would take part in Israel's Independence Day ceremony. “The whole world sees Israeli heroism. You will light a torch of civilian heroism on Independence Day," he added.
What happened during the flydubai hijacking?
On Wednesday, an Omani national began stabbing his co-pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar while midflight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Machchhar managed to unlock the cockpit door during the attack, allowing several passengers and crew members to wound the Omani attacker and tie him up.
An additional flight crew on board the aircraft took over and landed the plane in Saudi Arabia, while Dr. Musayev was able to stabilize Machchhar and temporarily tend to his wounds.
So far, multiple sources have told The Jerusalem Post that the Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF, and the Transportation Ministry believe the hijacker was a lone wolf, not under orders from Iran or another terror group.