By Alexander Cornwell and Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The flydubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain in a suspected attempt to crash the plane has told UAE interrogators he planned the attack before he was hired by the Dubai state-owned airline, according to two Israeli ‌officials with knowledge of the probe.

A third source briefed on the UAE probe said the co-pilot, an Omani national, had planned to crash ‌last Wednesday's flight into Ben-Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. He had also operated a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year and intended to hijack and crash the plane then, but opted not ​to, the source added.

It was not immediately clear why the co-pilot changed his mind on that previous flight, although the co-pilot is thought to have known someone onboard, the source said.

All of the sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. UAE and Israeli...