Three years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu presided over the darkest day in Israel’s history.
But last week, days before the anniversary of October 7, the prime minister and his people were able to hail the incredible escape from what could have been the nation’s 9/11.
The Likud leader met Yaniv Hayoun just hours after the plumber had been one of the passengers who stopped FlyDubai flight 1073 being crashed into Tel Aviv.
The next day, Benjamin Netanyahu sat down in Jerusalem for a wide-ranging talk, starting with his jaw-dropped reaction to the extraordinary heroism that rescued the plane from a rogue co-pilot to stop the terror plot succeeding.
“I was totally amazed.
“The probability that you were actually able to save the day is so improbable that it almost sounds miraculous, and in fact, it is miraculous.”
Saying the flight came “very close” to disaster, the prime minister paid tribute to the “extraordinary courage and resourcefulness” of Hayoun, as well as the pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, who defied his near-fatal wounds after he had been stabbed to open the cockpit door and let in the passengers who overpowered the co-pilot.
“it’s just amazing. I mean, this whole thing is beyond belief. There was extraordinary teamwork.
“You know, I served in our special forces.
“These are civilians. Had I been there with my team, my soldiers, I’m not sure we would have done better. I’m not sure we would have done what they did – these extraordinary brave Israelis.
“It’s just unbelievable what they did, and I think that you can imagine what would have happened had they not done that. The plane was heading down and you’d have a 9/11 tragedy here.
“That’s, in fact, what brave people tried to do in America with the hijack plans [on Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field after the passengers fought the terrorists on September 11, 2001], but they didn’t succeed, so they all died. Here, these brave Israelis succeeded.”
Benjamin Netanyahu as a member of the Israeli army's elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit (Photo by GPO via Getty Images)Getty Images
The extraordinary past few days had also seen another alleged terror plot, in the UK, targeting the RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire and now being investigated by counter-terror police. Prime minister Andy Burnham has said there are “strong indications” Iran is involved.
According to Netanyahu, the plot was foiled after Israeli intelligence warned Britain of the “Iranian-sponsored attack”.
The close relationship between the two countries’ security services is a stark contrast to the current political chill.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband last month announced sanctions targeting the West Bank – not long after the warning from Israeli intelligence – a measure followed by Canada and ten European states.
In Netanyahu’s view, these nations are oblivious to their own interests.
He said: “I don’t know how many Britons know how many lives we saved by giving a Britain advance information of impending attacks. And that’s true of other European countries.
“They’re appeasing, they’re attacking Israel that is fighting the terrorists.
“They appease their enemies, and they attack their protectors.
“That’s what’s happening. But this is a twist of both logic and justice. It doesn’t serve Britain well, it doesn’t serve the world well.”
Despite the current government, Netanyahu is clear “we always consider Britain as an ally” albeit with differences “on occasion”.
But Netanyahu has yet to hear from Andy Burnham since he took up residence at No10, and asked about the relationship between Israel and the British government, he simply said: “Well, it’s not very good, is it?”
Does he believe the British government’s policies on Israel are responsible for fuelling antisemitism? “Of course I do,” he says, citing the “dehumanisation of the Jewish state” by politicians.
“And then what do you think will happen? So Jews are attacked on the streets of London. They’re attacked throughout the Western countries that propagated this kind of thing. Of course, it has the impact.
“Look, we’ve been there before. The Jewish people have suffered these kinds of vilifications that always, always preceded the most violent attacks on our people during our centuries of our exile.
“Apparently, this is something we’re going to have to deal with in this century, too.”
Yet there is a difference: “The one thing that has changed is that we now have a state. We now have an army. We have security and intelligence agencies that can help us protect ourselves.
“But in so doing, when we defend ourselves, we also defend our vilifiers. That’s the incredible thing that is happening.” Asked if Israel is still sharing potentially life-saving intelligence with the British government, Netanyahu replied: “Well, I won’t get into that, but we just did. That a fact.”
Settler violence in the West Bank has been the subject of intense international opprobrium, including by Miliband.
Netanyahu acknowledges the problem and calls out the “vigilantism”. However, he challenges the narrative that puts the nature of the attacks and their scale on a par with jihadist terrorism, saying many critics in Britain and elsewhere in the West who have turned against Israel “don’t know what they’re talking about, because they’re just buying the propaganda that is put out here”.
He claims “99.9 per cent” of settlers are “law-abiding citizens”, saying: “They serve in the army, they keep the laws, they’re exemplary citizens.”
But the small number he calls “delinquents” “burn trees, they chop down olive trees, they throw rocks, and so on. And on two occasions, in 2025, there were Palestinian fatalities.
“Then this year there was one fatality. But in that year, 2025, there were dozens of Israelis murdered by these Hamas monsters and other terrorists.”
He cites “about 1,400 lethal attempts” using firearms or explosives.
Netanyahu condemns settlers “throwing stones” or “chopping down trees”: “That’s bad. I don’t accept it. But how can you compare this? This wave, this tsunami of terrorist attacks, and terrorist attacks.”
Among the recent victims is the son of Yechiel Leiter, Israel ambassador to the US. Neria Leiter was run down in a terror attack on the West Bank. After undergoing emergency brain surgery, he has been “fighting for his life”, according to Netanyahu, who said that “I pray” that he will survive and has since visited Neria in hospital.
After years of anti-Israel marches on the streets of Britain, he can’t help but wonder where are the protests against Iran. “This is a regime that murdered or maimed tens of thousands of its own citizens. They’re now choking the economies of the West. They’re choking your energy supplies. They’re choking your economies.
“I don’t see the rage that is directed against Israel directed there.” Netanyahu says the Jewish state “is the defender of civilisation right now”, and raises the spectre of the Iranian nuclear bomb programme that he has dedicated decades of his career to preventing succeeding.
“What would have happened if Iran had nuclear weapons now? Think of what they’re doing without nuclear weapons.
“Just hitting everybody in sight and choking the world. Imagine what they would do if they had nuclear weapons.”
Yet he strongly believes the Islamic Republic’s days are numbered.
“This regime will fall. Right now, they’re very weak. President Trump’s blockade is really weakening the IRGC a lot.” What would be his message to dissidents inside Iran? “I’d say, don’t lose faith. Your day of freedom will come.”
The recent conflict with Iran has hinged upon the power dynamics of the American president and Netanyahu. Together they launched the war against the Islamic Republic in February that dramatically claimed the lives of the Supreme Leader and other regime figures. Since then there has been much speculation over clashes between the two veteran statesmen, as the conflict has spluttered into a barely maintained ceasefire that many believe have frustrated Netanyahu’s wish to bring the fight to Tehran.
Asked about his dealings with Trump, the prime minister says: “We have an extraordinary relationship, but we also have, at times, our differences.
“I see it as my responsibility to do what I can to make sure that Israel’s safety and security is protected.
“But most of the time, we see eye to eye, and we see eye to eye on the big things, preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons, making sure this horrible regime, Tehran, cannot threaten the world.”
Aged 77, Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for decades. His gleeful political opponents are pointing to polls that show he may be about to lose power at the general election on October 27, although the race appears to be tightening.
Why should the Israeli people return him to office? He points to Israel’s response to “the worst massacre, perpetrated against Jews since the Nazi Holocaust”, even if critics blame him for the security failings that enabled October 7 to happen (although President Biden’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk who was in office at the time has categorically scotched claims Netanyahu had advanced warning).
The prime minister says: “We’ve hammered Hamas, hammered Hezbollah, hammered Iran, and stopped them from making nuclear bombs. That’s one reason. There are others, if you’d like, but I think it’s good enough.”
Few political leaders have been as demonised as Netanyahu, who faces constant security threats, along with being the target of attempted prosecutions under international law and vilification on placards and social media. It is a price he says he willingly pays – but his family is an entirely different matter.
“I’m used to paying the price for being in public office, but the virulent attacks against my wife, the character assassination, and my kids, is hard to take.
“It’s been the worst part, when people say that they should be murdered.”
But Netanyahu will not be cowed. Citing the memory of his brother Yonatan, who was killed while leading the operation to rescue the Entebbe hostages in 1976, he also recalls how he was himself wounded storming a hijacked aircraft when serving with Israeli special forces, as he returns to the extraordinary courage of the Flydubai passengers.
Despite his personal “close familiarity with this issue of hijackings and so on”, he says of these ordinary heroes: “Still, I’m amazed. I think the whole country, the whole world is amazed by the courage shown by these Israeli civilians, their resourcefulness.
“I think they should be congratulated by every citizen of the world that wants to see terrorism defeated. They’ve shown that terrorism could be defeated.”
Portions of this interview earlier appeared in the Daily Mail
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