Israel praises India ties on Oct 7 anniversary, hails Indian pilot who averted 9/11-style attack
Pic credit: X post from @indemtel
NEW DELHI, Oct 7: Israel ounderscored its close ties with India as it marked three years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, with Ambassador to India Reuven Azar praising a brave Indian pilot who helped avert what he called a 9/11-style mega terrorist attack last week.
Addressing a commemoration in New Delhi, Ambassador Azar said India understood Israel’s pain like few others, having suffered decades of terrorism, and that the two democracies would continue to work hand in hand to defeat terrorism.
“We know that here in India the vast majority of people understand exactly how we feel, because India has suffered dearly from decades of terrorist attacks,” Azar said, adding that the Pahalgam massacre had drawn inspiration from October 7.
Azar hailed Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, who was stabbed by his co-pilot on Sept 30 but managed to unlock the cockpit door and alert the cabin, allowing Israeli passengers and reserve pilots to intervene and prevent the Boeing 737 MAX 8 with 174 people on board from being deliberately crashed.
“Only last week we witnessed a stark reminder that suicidal hatred against our state can come in many ways, and thanks to a brave Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar and brave Israeli passengers we averted a 9/11 style mega terrorist attack,” he said.
The ambassador said the shared experience of terrorism made India see through what he called disinformation campaigns that downplayed the incident as an “altercation.”
“Last week we shared the frustration of seeing again disinformation campaigns and attempts of some West Asian and Western Media outlets to categorize the flydubai terrorist attack as an ‘altercation’,” Azar said.
“However our friends here in India know the truth. And we will continue to work together hand in hand, Israelis and Indians, to defeat terrorism while cherishing our heritage, our democratic values, our entrepreneurial spirit and our quest for stability, prosperity and peace,” he added.
Marking the anniversary of the attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds abducted, Azar said Israel was caught by surprise in one of its greatest intelligence failures, but had fought back and prevailed, weakening Hamas and the Iranian axis.
He said Israel’s economy had bounced back to grow 40 percent in nominal dollar terms from 2023 to 2026, and that its communities had returned to normal life despite 800 additional lives lost in the seven-front war that followed.
Azar said Israel wanted to heal and recover and would cooperate with allies on political solutions for Gaza and Lebanon, with elections due in less than a month.
“True peace will come when the fantasy of Israel’s eradication is finally renounced,” he said.
