Netanyahu waves the flag of antisemitism after the attempted plane attack against Tel Aviv

Jerusalem“The Flydubai flight and the indomitability of the Jews”, “The avoided Flydubai tragedy highlights Israeli courage” or “Extraordinary heroism and nearly miraculous circumstances prevent an air catastrophe” are some of the headlines that can be read these days in Israel. Two days after the incident with Flydubai flight FZ1073, the feeling in the country is one of having dodged a tragedy, but also of having discovered a crack in air security, in one of the countries most obsessed with this issue.

The Israeli government has announced stricter controls on all pilots arriving in Israel and the case has raised questions about how the crew was authorized: the co-pilot, whom various authorities have identified as Omani, would come from a country that does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, even though the Abraham Accords, which established relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in 2020, set restrictions on pilots from countries that do not maintain relations with Tel Aviv.

Normality also remains interrupted on the ground: Flydubai has suspended flights to Ben Gurion and this Friday, repatriation flights for Israelis wanting to leave the Emirates have run into authorization problems. El Al, the country's main airline, has canceled the flights scheduled for today, while Arkia and Israir are trying to maintain theirs.

And, amidst the questions, Benjamin Netanyahu has quickly appeared at the center of the narrative. Israel still does not know whether the co-pilot was acting alone or not, according to the prime minister himself, but he has reiterated that he went through an “Islamist radicalization process” and that “he got on the plane to crash it with all the passengers on board”. “Right now we are clarifying if someone sent him –added the leader in a video released today by his cabinet–. And whoever sent him will pay a very high price”.

Antisemitism as a new front

Yesterday, in an interview with Fox News, the Israeli prime minister had already asserted that the co-pilot had gone through a process of "radical Islamist indoctrination" and, admitting that he still did not know the exact background of the man, stated that he "obviously hated Israelis" and spoke of "fanaticism and hatred of an incalculable level." In fact, an Israeli official has assured the Israeli media The Times of Israel that the co-pilot spoke on social media about killing Jews, information that is still part of the investigation.

In this context, the prime minister has linked the hatred and fanaticism to antisemitism and to the propaganda that, according to him, demonizes Israel. A framework that fits with the speech he had already deployed before the UN, where he spoke of an "eighth front": the battle for "truth" in the media and on social media. And precisely social media have offered, a few hours after the incident, a new element to fuel this narrative. Combat Antisemitism Movement, an international organization dedicated to combating antisemitism, has detected 2,963 posts on X that, during the first twelve hours, attributed the incident to Israel, the Mossad, Netanyahu, the Zionists, or the Jews. The first accusation of a false flag would have appeared only 67 minutes after the alarm.

Despite the distance between the questions that still surround the investigation and the speed with which the narrative has been built, Netanyahu has incorporated the incident into a broader story about an Israel besieged by threats of a diverse nature: jihadism, antisemitism, Iran, and its allies. In the same interview with Fox News, the leader pointed to a possible Iranian connection, but remarked that it was too early. Two Israeli security sources have told Reuters that, for now, there are no signs of Iranian involvement.

For Netanyahu, this is familiar territory. Security is one of the main hallmarks of his political career. For years he has built his image as "Mr. Security": the leader most capable of identifying Israel's enemies and protecting the country. With the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, however, this promise was deeply questioned. Now the Flydubai flight offers him the opportunity once again to speak in his most characteristic political language: surveillance, threats, and protection.

The timing is not minor. The elections are 25 days away and the politician had already warned, the day before the incident, that Israel's enemies could try to attack during the campaign. While Israel continues to try to figure out how it was possible for a threat to appear inside an airplane that was destined for Tel Aviv, Netanyahu has already begun to explain what the incident means: it is a new warning about the country's enemies, about antisemitism, and about the need not to lower one's guard.