Israeli President Isaac Herzog awarded the Presidential Medal for Civilian Heroism on Thursday to six passengers who helped stop an attempted hijacking aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, which was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. According to accounts from Israeli officials and passengers, the co-pilot stabbed the plane's Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, and attempted to crash the aircraft, which was carrying 174 people, before the pilot and a group of passengers intervened to bring the plane down safely with an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The honorees, Tali and Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Asaf Rajuan, Or Pardilov and Dr. Shota Musayev, were recognized for subduing the attacker and tending to the wounded captain mid-flight. Herzog said he would also extend recognition to Captain Machchhar for completing the emergency landing despite his injuries.

During the ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Herzog told the honorees they had acted "without hesitation, with courage, resourcefulness and extraordinary mutual responsibility," crediting them with preventing what he called a disaster that could have reshaped Israel and the wider Middle East. He framed their actions as part of a broader, ongoing fight against global terrorism, stressing that while catastrophe was averted this time, the underlying threat has not gone away. The Presidential Medal for Civilian Heroism, Israel's highest civilian honor, was created by Herzog after the October 7, 2023 attacks to recognize ordinary citizens who risk their lives to save others. Herzog said the heroism shown aboard the flight does not erase the need for full answers about how the attack was allowed to happen in the first place.