Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he wants Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and injured flydubai pilot Captain Smit Machchhar to light a flame at Israel’s Independence Day national ceremony next May.
Netanyahu made the announcement during a telephone conversation with Machchhar, who is recovering in hospital in the United Arab Emirates after an alleged attack inside the cockpit of a flydubai aircraft.
The role of lighting the flame is usually reserved for Israeli citizens.
“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel, and you are a hero of the entire world,” Netanyahu told Machchhar, according to a video released by his office.
UAE investigators have said the flight’s co-pilot planned a “terrorist act” by attacking Machchhar with an axe.
Machchhar recounts cockpit attack
Machchhar said the co-pilot had asked to take time to pray, which he described as a normal practice among devout Muslims who pray five times a day.
“A lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary. While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back,” Machchhar said.
“Suddenly, after I think I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head. My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something is not right.
“But then after that the blows kept coming one after the other. That’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.”
Machchhar said his memory remained unclear because of his injuries, but he recalled managing to pull open the cockpit door before it was apparently closed again.
“I had that one last fight left in me,” he said, explaining that he knew he faced certain death if he could not escape.
“That’s when I pushed against everything. I gave everything that I had and just went for the door and opened the door, and thankfully people were waiting.”
The incident has drawn international attention, with Machchhar also receiving a video call from Modi while recovering in hospital.
