Israeli Press: Netanyahu Turns Iraqi Praise, Flydubai Drama Into Leadership Message

The latest:

Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video of Iraqi researcher and commentator Ghaith al-Tamimi praising him, with a Hebrew caption saying the world listens when Netanyahu speaks. Days earlier he placed himself at the centre of the public response to the September 30 emergency aboard a Dubai-to-Israel flydubai flight, meeting a passenger credited with helping subdue the attacking co-pilot.

Details:

• The post: Netanyahu circulated the Tamimi clip on his personal X account. The accompanying Hebrew caption, rendered in English as when Netanyahu speaks the world listens, converts an interview excerpt into a claim about his international influence rather than a report of Arab opinion.
• The Iraqi voice: Channel 14 reported on September 30 that Tamimi applauded Netanyahu’s United Nations speech and defended his determination to protect Israelis. The Hebrew-language channel highlighted Tamimi’s comparison with Arab leaders and his argument that responsibility for protecting Palestinians rested with their own leadership.
• The flight: Following the September 30 emergency on the Dubai-to-Israel route, Netanyahu spoke publicly about the incident and met returning passenger Yaniv Hayun, one of those credited with helping subdue the attacking co-pilot. The co-pilot’s motive was not established in the Israeli coverage.
• The analysis: In an October 1 piece, Times of Israel news editor Ben Sales argued Netanyahu was using the advantages of incumbency to attach himself to the passengers’ heroism despite playing no direct role in the airborne rescue. Sales tied it to restoring his security reputation after October 7, 2023.
• The counter-risk: Sales also acknowledged the opposite effect: exposed security failures around the incident could strengthen opposition criticism rather than reinforce the argument that changing leadership during continuing threats would be risky.
• The CNN interview: The Jerusalem Post reported Netanyahu praised the Indian captain and the passengers for preventing what he described as “a disaster comparable to September 11.” He said UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed had agreed to Israeli participation in the investigation.
• The caveats: In the same interview Netanyahu acknowledged Israel had received no specific warning about the flight and that he could not yet attribute the incident to Iran. Those admissions sit against the political argument that the government had anticipated the threat.
• The domestic fight: N12 reported that Defence Minister Israel Katz invoked earlier security warnings while attacking political critics. Opposition leader Yair Lapid disputed any connection between a briefing he received from Netanyahu and the flight incident.
• Conflicting accounts: Security sources told the Hebrew-language N12 there had been no advance intelligence indication concerning the flight. A political source told the same outlet that Lapid had been warned about a general increase in threats abroad, a narrower claim than a flight-specific warning.

Background:

Netanyahu is campaigning with his security credentials contested since the October 7, 2023 attack, the central reference point in Israeli debate over whether his leadership prevented or failed to prevent a catastrophic breach.

Between the lines:

Two different political assets are being used for one message. The Tamimi clip supplies an Arab voice for a claim Netanyahu’s supporters already make, that confrontation equals commitment to Israelis; the caption stretches one endorsement into evidence of a listening world. The flydubai response supplies the drama. Neither episode establishes that voters have moved, nor that the two were a coordinated campaign operation.

What’s next

Watch whether the UAE grants Israel the investigation role Netanyahu described, what the inquiry concludes about the co-pilot’s motive, and whether any Israeli intelligence warning before the flight is documented.