Trump says he personally believes Iran was behind the flydubai attack

US President Donald Trump said on October 5, 2026 that he believes Iran was responsible for last week's attack on a flydubai flight carrying Israeli passengers. The Times of Israel reported that when a reporter asked whether he held Iran responsible, Trump answered: "I do. I personally do." According to the same report, he gave no explanation of how he had arrived at that view. The paper's photo caption placed the exchange on the South Lawn of the White House, as he spoke to reporters before boarding the presidential helicopter, Marine One.

The remark was carried within minutes by several Israeli outlets. N12 correspondent Keren Bezalel reported that Trump, speaking about the attempted hijacking of the flydubai plane, said he thinks Iran is responsible. Ynet's alerts channel quoted him as saying that in his opinion Iran stands behind the attempted attack, and the Abu Ali Express channel rendered his answer to the question simply as "yes".

A view at odds with other officials

Trump's answer departs from what other senior figures in Washington and Jerusalem have said so far. The Times of Israel noted that Vice President JD Vance said earlier the same day that he had not seen conclusive evidence connecting Iran to the attack.

On the Israeli side, the paper reported that security officials have so far assessed that the attacker, an Omani copilot who tried to take control of the aircraft and crash it, was operating alone. In security language this is often called a "lone wolf" case: an attacker acting without direction from a state or organised group. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said on several occasions, according to The Times of Israel, that it is too early to say whether Iran was behind the attack.

The Times of Israel framed Trump's comment as going against those lone wolf assessments. None of the reports indicate that any US or Israeli agency has publicly changed its own conclusion following the president's remark.

What the airline and the attacker are

flydubai is a low-cost carrier based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The attacker, as described by The Times of Israel, was a member of the flight crew rather than a passenger: a copilot from Oman, a Gulf state neighbouring the Emirates. The reports describe the plane as full of Israelis, but they do not give the route, the number of people aboard, or how the attempt was stopped.

The Hebrew-language outlets used slightly different terms for the event. Ynet, Amit Segal and News.co.il referred to it as a nisayon pigua, Hebrew for an attempted terror attack, while N12 described it as an attempted hijacking of the aircraft.

Related developments the same day

The Times of Israel's live coverage on the same day also reported a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Netanyahu, and a separate item on Israeli carriers Arkia and Israir. According to that item, most of their flights use aircraft and crews leased from foreign airlines that are not subject to all of Israel's security protocols, an arrangement the paper said the prime minister approved. The reports do not say whether the flydubai attack was discussed on the Rubio call.

How the remark was reported

Most of the six reports were brief alerts posted on Telegram, the messaging platform widely used by Israeli newsrooms and commentators for breaking news. Ynet, N12, Amit Segal, News.co.il and Abu Ali Express each relayed the core statement in a line or two. The Times of Israel provided the fullest account, including the exact wording of the question and answer and the comments from Vance and Netanyahu.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not say what information, if any, Trump based his view on, and he did not elaborate when asked. They do not say whether US intelligence agencies share his assessment, or whether the White House intends to act on it. Iran's response, if any, is not reported. The reports also leave open basic details of the attack itself: the flight's route and date, how many people were aboard, how the copilot was stopped, and what has happened to him since.