Fri, 2 Oct, 2026, 09:11 am
Reported by The Hindu
The Consulate of Israel launched a public awareness campaign across major roadways in Mumbai to express gratitude to honour Captain Machchhar's valour.
Consul General Yaniv Revach, present at the display on the Western Express Highway in Bandra, said, "Captain Smit activated emergency alerts and successfully opened the cockpit door despite sustaining severe wounds to his neck and hands. The State of Israel and its citizens are deeply grateful to Captain Smit and 4 Israeli passengers on board who saved 174 lives. Captain Smit has become a hero in both India and Israel. Our immediate priority is his complete recovery, after which we look forward to welcoming him to Israel to officially honour his courage."
According to the media release, Mr. Revach drew a parallel with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, when Sandra Samuel, an Indian nanny, saved young Moshe Holtzberg, saying this reflected a shared cultural value placed on preserving innocent life in Indian and Jewish traditions.
He said the situation could have precipitated a "complex diplomatic crisis" had Captain Machchhar been unable to open the cockpit door, and cautioned against what he called speculative narrative-building by some media outlets that might misrepresent facts or strain relations among Israel, the UAE and India, naming Qatar and Al Jazeera as examples he said were inciting public opinion against Israel and Jewish people.
