New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- The Omani national suspected of stabbing Indian Captain Smit Machchhar and attempting to crash a Flydubai flight carrying 174 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday has raised questions over how he was cleared to operate an Israel-bound flight, given that Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the co-pilot had posted content on social media about killing Jews and had asked Emirati crew members to kill him during the incident. The official said the suspect appeared to have been radicalised into jihadist ideology, while stressing that the investigation was still ongoing.

"This was a person who was willing to commit suicide," the official told ...