Israel to honour Indian Captain Smit Machchhar with Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism
By R Anil Kumar
Tel Aviv/Bengaluru, Oct 8, 2026. Indian Captain Smit Machchhar, who fought off an attack from his co-pilot inside the cockpit of a flydubai plane, will receive Israel’s highest bravery award for civilians, President Isaac Herzog has said.
President Herzog on Thursday presented the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism to six individuals who were on board the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026.
“Alongside the Israeli heroes whom we honour today, we send our heartfelt wishes for the full and speedy recovery of Captain Smit Machchhar of India,” Herzog said during the ceremony that took place at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Machchhar’s “sheer courage and bravery and sound professionalism helped avert this catastrophe. Once he regains strength, it will be my honour and privilege to award him, on behalf of the people of Israel, the State of Israel’s Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism,” he said.
The Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism is Israel’s highest civilian award for heroism. Established by President Herzog after October 7th, it expresses the State of Israel’s recognition of individuals who acted with exceptional heroism, at real risk to their own lives, out of mutual responsibility, and in order to save human life, according to the President’s Office.
The award was presented to Tali Manes, Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan, and Or Pardilov during the ceremony for their role in preventing the would-be hijacker from crashing the plane, the President’s Office said.
He went on to praise the heroes of flight 1073 for their “simple, human, and profoundly Israeli act: At the moment when a choice had to be made – you chose life. For all of this, I award you today the President’s Medal for Civilian Bravery,” Jerusalem Post reported.
On September 30, Machchhar helped save the lives of 172 passengers and his fellow crew members aboard flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
He was stabbed by his co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, in an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft.
Machchhar, who has been hailed as a “hero” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is making steady progress and is regaining his health at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
President Herzog said, “There is a profound lesson we must draw from this remarkable story: just as people from different nations joined forces to save that aircraft, so too must the international community stand united against the global threat of terror.”
“Yesterday we marked the third anniversary of the single most barbaric, murderous attack on the State of Israel and its citizens. October 7, 2023, scarred the Israeli people irrevocably, and the trauma will be palpable for generations. We have learned, through painful sacrifice, what it means to face an existential threat.”
“And we have learned that confronting it requires foresight, determination, and, above all, international cooperation in fighting terror. I have absolute confidence in the thorough investigation conducted by our dear friends in the United Arab Emirates, whom we greatly respect.”
