The latest:
A suspected attempt by a co-pilot to bring down a Tel Aviv-bound Fly Dubai flight on Wednesday, foiled by passengers who overpowered him, turned into political ammunition within hours. Government allies said it proved Netanyahu’s pre-election warnings; opposition leaders said it recalled the failures that preceded the Hamas-led invasion. The Times of Israel reported the clash lands less than a month before the vote.
Details:
- The timing: The Times of Israel reported the confrontation arrived under a month before Israelis vote on October 27 and a week before the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led invasion. Accountability for that day’s security failures has been a central campaign dispute.
- The warning: Opposition figures accused Netanyahu on Tuesday of spreading panic with a public warning about possible attack plots by unnamed hostile actors, with some alleging he sought to undermine the election. Security officials told Hebrew media they knew of no specific attack threat.
- Lapid’s rebuttal: Opposition leader Yair Lapid said nothing resembling the plane incident came up in Monday night’s security briefing with the prime minister, not even a hint, and accused government spokespeople of playing cheap politics at the expense of Israel’s security.
- The anonymous source: A diplomatic source told Channel 12 that, contrary to Lapid’s account, the military secretariat had briefed him on a sharp rise in terrorist activity abroad on a scale unseen for years. Lapid replied the warning was over two years old and unrelated to aircraft, and implied the source was Netanyahu himself.
- Government framing: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir praised the passengers but demanded Israel’s security doctrine be raised to the next level and pressed for continued fighting in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. He has said he will seek the defense portfolio in the next government.
- Smotrich’s line: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said anyone who tried to down a plane and kill 180 Israelis should pay as if they had killed them, along with any state or terrorist organization that sent them. There were no indications Wednesday that any state or organization directed the attempt.
- The October 7 comparison: Former prime minister Naftali Bennett told Channel 12 he did not need a government to warn him but to protect him, asking what Netanyahu did about a suspected threat instead of acting as an alert app. Democrats leader Yair Golan said ordinary Israelis again had to rise in the face of danger.
- Liberman’s charge: Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman credited the passengers for acting under immense pressure and direct danger, and accused pro-government activists of converting the episode into political gain while people were fighting for their lives.
- Netanyahu’s account: The Jerusalem Post reported Netanyahu said all passengers were safe and the pilot who carried out the stabbing was detained and questioned by Saudi authorities. An Israeli passenger and a crew member neutralized him while another crew member stabilized the aircraft, which landed at Tabuk.
- The Abu Dhabi trip: The dispute came three days after Netanyahu’s unannounced hour-long meeting with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi, from where the flight departed. The Associated Press reported the visit aimed to secure a public denial of reports bin Zayed had warned him before October 7; Netanyahu’s office called that fake news.
Background:
Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident an attempted jihadist attack foiled by the heroism of several Israeli passengers, who he said handed the cockpit to a replacement flight crew.
Between the lines:
The two camps are not arguing about the attack but about the Tuesday warning that preceded it. Government allies treat the foiled attempt as retroactive proof; the opposition argues that if the warning rested on intelligence about Wednesday, the question becomes what was done to prevent it. Both readings route back to the same unresolved October 7 accountability fight.
What’s next
Watch the October 7 anniversary commemorations next week, the Saudi interrogation of the detained pilot, and whether evidence emerges linking the attempt to a state or organization before the October 27 vote.
