ByREUTERS
Updated:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the co-pilot who tried to crash a passenger jet on its way to Israel had undergone Islamist radicalization.

"We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination," Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.

No motive has been determined for Wednesday's harrowing near-disaster on Wednesday's flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when passengers were able to subdue the attacker, and a reserve crew aboard landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.

'Too early to tell' if co-pilot was linked to Iran

Netanyahu told Fox & Friends he would be able to say within a matter of days whether the flydubai co-pilot had connections to Iran.

"I think it's too early to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with anyone else," he said.

Israel is set to ramp up security checks on pilots flying into the country, a spokesperson for the prime minister's office said, after it said a co-pilot on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv had stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash the plane. The dramatic incident was only defused after passengers
Israel is set to ramp up security checks on pilots flying into the country, a spokesperson for the prime minister's office said, after it said a co-pilot on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv had stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash the plane. The dramatic incident was only defused after passengers (credit: JAMAL AWAD/FLASH90)

Netanyahu said it was clear that the co-pilot was suicidal.

"If you couple that with the what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalization that are found in his background, I think that's - that'll give us the a pretty good clue," he said. "But again, I don't make final conclusions yet. But that's the indications we have now."