Netanyahu Uses Foiled Flydubai Attack to Push Security Narrative Before Israeli Election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved quickly to shape the public narrative around the apparent attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, using the incident to reinforce his long-standing message that he alone can keep Israelis safe, even as key details about the attack remain unclear.

The flight, FZ1073, was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when its co-pilot attacked the captain, stabbing him before being overpowered. The aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal. The captain, Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, has since been hailed as a hero by leaders in both Israel and India for landing the plane and saving the passengers on board.

What motivated the co-pilot remains unknown, and investigators have yet to establish a clear picture of what drove the attack. The co-pilot's identity has not been publicly released, and questions persist about how he was cleared to fly in the first place. Despite this uncertainty, Netanyahu has not waited for the investigation to conclude before drawing political conclusions.

In appearances greeting passengers returning to Israel at Ben Gurion airport, the prime minister framed the attack as the predictable consequence of what he describes as relentless propaganda aimed at vilifying Israel. While acknowledging that it was too early to determine a motive, he pointed to Iran and its regional proxies as forces intent on escalating attacks against Israelis abroad. He claimed on Thursday that it had been established the co-pilot had undergone what he called "Islamist radical indoctrination."

The timing of the incident is significant. Israel is scheduled to hold a pivotal parliamentary election later this month, a vote that will decide whether Netanyahu remains in office. For a leader who has spent years positioning himself as the only politician capable of defending the country against the threats it faces, the attempted hijacking fits neatly into a political narrative he has been building for years.

Former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy told Al Jazeera that while it is probably too early to assess the political fallout, the episode could benefit Netanyahu by pushing other stories off the front pages. He noted that the approaching anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel would otherwise dominate headlines, and that the plane attack instead draws attention to a narrative hinting at Iranian involvement at a time when other claims about possible Iranian operations are also surfacing, including accusations of Tehran's potential role in an incident near a US Air Force base in the United Kingdom.

According to Levy, this plays directly into the outcome Netanyahu has been advocating: a resumption of intensified strikes against Iran. Such a move would not only advance his security agenda but also distract from his domestic difficulties and could be presented as vindication of warnings he issued earlier in the week.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu released a video statement warning of "indications that, ahead of the elections, our enemies will try to attack us." His political opponents dismissed the warning as unevidenced fearmongering. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who described the plane attack as an "attempted jihadist terror attack," appeared to reference that earlier warning directly, saying that when the prime minister and he issue security alerts based on intelligence, everyone should listen, including enemies abroad and what he called uninformed former officials at home.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, however, rejected any connection between the attack and Netanyahu's prior warnings. Lapid had received a security briefing from the prime minister on Tuesday night, and said on Wednesday that "nothing even resembling" the plane attack had appeared in that briefing. His statement directly contradicts the suggestion that Netanyahu's warnings had anticipated the incident.

For observers who have followed Netanyahu's long political career, his handling of the attack's aftermath fits a familiar pattern. Ahron Bregman, an Israeli security analyst and senior teaching fellow at King's College London, said Netanyahu is trying to gain politically from the event. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has repeatedly been accused of turning crises to his advantage, and critics say his instinct to frame every security incident within his broader political messaging is deeply ingrained.

The case also raises difficult questions about aviation security and screening procedures. The fact that a co-pilot allegedly carried out such an attack has prompted scrutiny of how airline crew members are vetted and cleared to fly. Those questions remain unanswered, and the investigation is ongoing.

Iran has denied any involvement in related plots, including the alleged airbase incident in the UK, and no evidence has been publicly presented linking Tehran to the Flydubai attack. The co-pilot's motive may ultimately prove unrelated to any state actor. Nevertheless, in the immediate aftermath, the ambiguity has done little to slow the political spinning in Israel.

With the election approaching, the incident gives Netanyahu a fresh opportunity to centre the campaign on security, an issue on which he has traditionally polled strongly. Whether voters accept his framing of the attack as part of a wider Iranian threat, or reject it as opportunistic, may influence the outcome of a vote that will determine the future of his leadership and the direction of Israel's policy toward Iran.