Holon Dentist of Bukharian Roots Among Six Honored by Herzog for Stopping Flydubai Attack

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, presented the President’s Award for Civilian Heroism to six passengers of Flydubai flight FZ1073, among them Dr. Shota Musayev, a Holon dentist whom Israel’s Bukharian community has embraced as one of its own, Kan News reported.

The Sept. 30 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv turned into an emergency when the Omani co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar in the cockpit. On Oct. 9, the UAE Attorney-General said the investigation found the co-pilot had begun a premeditated plot to seize the aircraft and use it in a suicide attack on the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. Pilots who were aboard for the return flight regained control and landed at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, according to the UAE statement carried by WAM.

“I came to fight the terrorist”

Musayev told Ynet he did not wait to be called. “I saw that something was wrong and ran forward,” he said. “I came to fight the terrorist when I heard screams, not to give medical aid. Only after we tied up the terrorist did I treat the stabbed pilot.” He said the captain, lying on the floor, told them he was 39 and a father of two. “We were four people who took control of the whole situation, and if not for that, we would not be talking with you,” he said.

The Israeli Bukharian news site Bucharim.com, publishing a report by the Menora newsroom, described Musayev, 47, as coming from a family rooted in both Bukharian and Georgian Jewry and as the son-in-law of the well-known singer Yuza Moshiashvili. The Bukharian Times in Queens, crediting the Bukharian Community Instagram account, likewise described him as being of Bukharian-Georgian ancestry. RFE/RL’s Georgian Service called him a Georgian-Israeli dentist.

At the award ceremony, Musayev told Herzog the heroism was shared. “It wasn’t only my heroism. Everyone who was there and came near the cockpit was part of it. We were all heroes,” he said, according to Kan. Herzog told the six they had “prevented a severe aviation disaster that would have changed the face of the country and the Middle East.” The other recipients named by Kan were Or Pardilov, Yaniv Hayun, Tali Manes, Zvika Manes and Asaf Rajuan.

Days earlier, Musayev was honored at second hakafot. Arutz Sheva reported he recited “Mizmor LeTodah” at the Chabad House of Nachalat Yehuda in Rishon LeZion.

This report was translated from Hebrew by Bukharian Jewish Post from coverage by Kan News, Ynet, Bucharim.com (Menora) and Arutz Sheva.

Sources: Kan News; Ynet; Bucharim.com (Menora); WAM / UAE Attorney-General; Arutz Sheva; RFE/RL; The Bukharian Times.