Netanyahu, Lapid Trade Barbs Over Security Briefings Amid Saudi Air Incident

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid continued their public exchange of accusations on Wednesday, following an unusual incident involving a Flydubai plane in Saudi Arabian airspace. Lapid stated that the morning's events, which involved a potential hijacking or crash attempt by a co-pilot, were not mentioned in the security briefing he received from Netanyahu the previous evening. He accused the Prime Minister's office of "cheap politics at the expense of Israel's security."

However, a diplomatic source told N12 that Lapid was updated by the military secretariat on Tuesday about a significant increase in overseas terror threats, "on a scale not seen in years."

Netanyahu had previously warned that "enemies will try to attack us" ahead of the upcoming elections and vowed that Israel's "long arm will reach them anywhere, anytime." This prompted Lapid to request an urgent security briefing. The two leaders eventually met late Wednesday night.

Following their meeting, Lapid stated that the IDF, Shin Bet, and police were prepared for the elections and there was no reason to cause public panic. He also criticized Netanyahu's security concerns, suggesting he should focus on enlisting ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, which faces manpower shortages.

Netanyahu responded by asserting that the intelligence briefing detailed warnings of possible attacks on various fronts before the elections.

The incident on the Flydubai flight reportedly began around 9:00 AM when Israel received a hijacking alert. Fighter jets were scrambled, and high-level discussions ensued. The plane briefly disappeared from tracking systems, raising fears of a hijacking, before reappearing. It eventually landed in Saudi Arabia around 10:00 AM, after which Israeli airspace reopened. Flydubai confirmed a fight between the pilots caused the incident, but Israeli officials indicated the co-pilot intended to crash the plane. A senior Israeli official described the event as a co-pilot stabbing another pilot and attempting a "9/11"-style attack, either by crashing the plane or hijacking it, but a dramatic disaster was averted when other crew members subdued the assailant.