Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the incident aboard a Flydubai plane earlier today "was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack."

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the incident aboard a Flydubai plane earlier today "was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack."

The co-pilot of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight allegedly stabbed the pilot in a suspected attempt to destroy the plane, which later landed in Saudi Arabia.

"The serious incident on the Flydubai plane was an attempted jihadist attack, which was thwarted only thanks to the courage of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, took control of the terrorist and with their own hands returned control of the plane to another flight crew present at the scene," says Katz in a statement.

"According to the initial information we have, the terrorist had one intention: to destroy the plane with all its passengers," he says.