Arab Leaders Convene Emergency Meeting Over Bar Ilan Lecturer's Alleged Attack Plot

In this episode

The stories Maya and Daniel cover, in order. Each one opens the full story.

1. Arab Leaders Convene Emergency Meeting Over Bar Ilan Lecturer's Alleged Attack Plot
2. Israel Warns of Retaliation as UK Considers Expelling Diplomats
3. Top Lithuanian Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Criticizes Religious Zionism and Israel's Existence
4. Flydubai Pilot Planned Attack on Ben Gurion Airport, Investigators Say
5. Brazil Election: Markets Favor Bolsonaro Amid Economic Uncertainty
6. Student Recounts Disabling Hijacker on Flydubai Flight

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Transcript

Maya

A lecturer at one of Israel's best-known universities is suspected of plotting to attack Arab citizens, and Arab leaders have called an emergency meeting.

Daniel

And Britain is weighing whether to expel twenty-seven Israeli diplomats, with Israel promising to answer in kind.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Tuesday, October sixth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Start with the university. What do we know?

Daniel

It's Bar Ilan University, a large university in Ramat Gan, right next to Tel Aviv. According to the reports, one of its lecturers allegedly plotted an attack on Arab citizens of Israel.

Maya

Citizens. So we're talking about Israelis.

Daniel

Exactly. Arab Israelis, with the same passport and the same vote. They're the voters behind the Arab parties we've been covering in this election campaign.

Maya

And the reaction?

Daniel

Arab leaders are holding an emergency meeting. Officials there voiced concern about incitement, and about how fast incitement can turn into violence.

Maya

The word in every report is alleged.

Daniel

Right. The material doesn't tell us about charges yet, so for now it's an allegation, and we'll treat it that way.

Maya

Why should a listener abroad care about one lecturer?

Daniel

Because a plot to hurt Israeli citizens is a threat to Israelis, whoever the target and whoever the suspect. And it lands three weeks before an election where incitement is already a charged word.

Maya

So what comes next?

Daniel

Watch what the Arab leadership asks of the government after this meeting, and whether investigators say more about what was planned.

Maya

Now to London, and a diplomatic standoff that's escalating fast.

Daniel

Britain is considering expelling twenty-seven Israeli diplomats. It's a response to Israel's plan to close the British consulate in East Jerusalem.

Maya

Explain East Jerusalem for people who don't follow this every day.

Daniel

It's the eastern part of the city. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, and the closure is set to take effect on Thursday.

Maya

Twenty-seven diplomats is not a symbolic number.

Daniel

No, that would hit Israel's presence in Britain hard. And Israel has warned it will retaliate for any expulsion.

Maya

Did this come out of nowhere?

Daniel

Not at all. It follows a stretch of worsening relations between the two countries, including sanctions.

Maya

So Thursday is the date both sides are staring at.

Daniel

Exactly. If Britain moves before then, Israel has made clear it won't let it pass. Two close partners could end up trading expulsions.

Maya

The Flydubai story now. We've covered the flight to Tel Aviv for more than a week, so let's stick to what's new.

Daniel

Right. Investigators now say the co-pilot, Hamam al Hamami from Oman, planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport itself. That's Israel's main international airport.

Maya

Not just somewhere in Israel. The airport.

Daniel

That's what investigators say. As an act of revenge against Israel. And agents of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, are taking part in his interrogation.

Maya

Last week the open question was whether he acted alone.

Daniel

An investigation has now confirmed the other pilots did not cooperate with him.

Maya

And we're finally hearing from the man who stopped him.

Daniel

A medical student who was on board. He's described how he subdued the co-pilot.

Maya

A medical student. Usually they're trained to patch people up, not pin them down.

Daniel

This one did both jobs at once.

Maya

There's also a new piece of data that's raising eyebrows.

Daniel

Yes. Figures show that many Omani citizens entered Israel on tourist visas. That's feeding the security concerns.

Maya

Which ties back to the review we told you about yesterday.

Daniel

Exactly. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a review of aviation security for foreign flights. Now the question of who's entering, and how, is part of that picture.

Maya

To the ultra-Orthodox world, and a rabbi who's stirred things up.

Daniel

Rabbi Dov Lando is a leading figure in what's called the Lithuanian stream of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. That's the yeshiva world, built around intensive Torah study.

Maya

And what did he say?

Daniel

He criticized religious Zionism, the movement that sees the State of Israel as having religious meaning. He criticized the state itself, and secular Israeli society.

Maya

The state itself?

Daniel

He questioned whether Israel needs to exist at all, and suggested other models of governance. He also blamed Zionism for Arab hostility.

Maya

So what protects Jews, in his view?

Daniel

Torah study. He says that's the true protection.

Maya

A tough argument to make three years after October seventh, when soldiers were the ones standing at the gates.

Daniel

That's where the anger will come from. And in an election season, every word from a rabbi this senior gets weighed by voters and coalition-builders alike.

Maya

Quick round now. Brazil.

Daniel

Brazil's presidential race is heading to a runoff between Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and the incumbent, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro's party also made big gains in Congress.

Maya

And the Israel angle?

Daniel

Bolsonaro has pledged to move Brazil's embassy to Jerusalem. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, previously considered the same move.

Maya

And markets apparently like him.

Daniel

They've reacted well to his likely fiscal policies, despite economic uncertainty and a high national debt.

Maya

Fuel prices. We covered the cut yesterday. What's the number at the pump?

Daniel

Gasoline now costs seven point seven seven shekels a liter, after the fifty agorot reduction. And it's temporary, it's in effect for one month.

Maya

One month. Right through election day, conveniently.

Daniel

The calendar does line up.

Maya

And in Britain, a party vote that's drawn fire from its own allies.

Daniel

The Green Party of England and Wales passed a motion declaring Zionism is racism, and rejecting the two-state solution.

Maya

Who's pushing back?

Daniel

Most notably the European Green Party, its own political family. The vote has led to resignations, and to calls for a police investigation into possible hate speech.

Maya

When your sister parties across Europe condemn you, that says something.

Daniel

It does. Zionism is simply the idea that Jews have a right to a state of their own. Calling that racism is exactly what drew the criticism.

Maya

Finally, ahead of a hard day.

Daniel

Tomorrow is the third anniversary of October seventh. Families of those murdered, and survivors, are sharing the final text messages they exchanged that day.

Maya

Last messages.

Daniel

Yes. It's an online campaign under the Hebrew hashtag Kulanu seven ten, which means all of us, seven ten. The aim is to get people to take part in remembering what happened, and who it happened to.

Maya

Messages that were never meant to be the last ones.

Daniel

And by sharing them, the families are making sure the names aren't reduced to a date.

Maya

So the thing to watch. Tomorrow, October seventh, as Israel marks three years since the massacre, watch how many people join the families in sharing those messages.

Daniel

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Maya

See you tomorrow morning.