Netanyahu Cautious, Defense Minister Blames Jihadist Attack on Flydubai Flight

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel likely attempted to crash the plane with its passengers, describing the incident as a "most serious security event." He recounted that during the flight, as the aircraft neared Israel, one pilot stabbed the other and then seemingly tried to bring the plane down. Netanyahu added that Israeli passengers and crew managed to breach the cockpit, neutralize the assailant pilot, and stabilize the aircraft, preventing a catastrophe. He praised the individuals involved for their courage and announced that the assailant pilot is being interrogated by Saudi authorities, with Israel maintaining contact to ensure passenger safety and their return.

Defense Minister Israel Katz was more definitive, labeling the incident a "jihadist terrorist attempt" that was thwarted by the bravery of Israeli passengers. He used the event to criticize political rivals, suggesting that warnings issued by him and the Prime Minister should be taken seriously by "enemies from outside and the uninformed from within." Katz emphasized that these warnings do not replace proactive offensive operations.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid countered that no similar event was mentioned in his security briefing with Netanyahu the previous day. He accused the government of attempting to make "cheap politics" out of the security incident. However, a diplomatic source told N12 that Lapid was indeed updated on a significant increase in foreign terror threats. Lapid retorted that this warning about foreign activity has existed for over two years and is not specific to aircraft incidents, accusing the "irresponsible diplomatic source" of lying and attempting to exploit the heroic actions of passengers.