Israel to award Indian pilot highest civilian bravery medal — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Captain Smit Machchhar will receive Israel's Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, the country's highest civilian bravery honour, announced by President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Thursday.
- Machchhar was stabbed by his Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami aboard Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026, in an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft, but his actions — aided by passengers — saved all 172 lives on board.
- Six other passengers — Tali Manes, Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan, and Or Pardilov — received the same medal at the ceremony for physically stopping the attacker from crashing the plane.
- Herzog established the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, and at Thursday's ceremony he framed the flydubai incident as evidence that 'confronting terror requires... international cooperation,' explicitly linking the anniversary to the multi-national rescue.
- Machchhar is recovering at a hospital in the UAE and has been publicly hailed as a 'hero' by both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Why it matters: Herzog used the flydubai incident to advance a diplomatic message on the third anniversary of October 7, invoking the India-Israel-UAE passenger coalition as proof that 'international cooperation in fighting terror' is essential. The timing gives Modi a high-profile moment of validation from a key strategic partner while Netanyahu's government faces escalating diplomatic isolation over Gaza.
Ask SkimNews
