Flydubai flight: emergency landing after attack in cockpit
The co-pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv apparently attempted to stab the pilot and take control of the aircraft with 174 passengers on board on Wednesday. The captain and passengers were able to regain control of the situation and land the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia. Commentators examine the ramifications of the incident for Israel.
Linked to Israeli elections?
Efimerida ton Syntakton speculates on whether the alleged attack could be linked to other events in the region:
“The timing of the incident gives rise to various interpretations: one week before the third anniversary of the bloody attack carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023, and just under a month before the Israeli parliamentary elections on 27 October, in which, according to polls, Netanyahu's far-right bloc risks losing its majority to a centrist alliance led by the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Gadi Eisenkot. And three days after Netanyahu's visit to Abu Dhabi on Sunday and his meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.”
A boon for Netanyahu's campaign
In the run-up to the elections in Israel, this incident has heightened the growing sense of insecurity since the massacre on 7 October 2023, Middle East expert Ran Porat writes in The Conversation France:
“What worries many Israelis most is that the election will lead to yet another political deadlock. Israel urgently needs a head of government who can guarantee the country's security as criticism of the Gaza war mounts, antisemitism spreads across the globe and incidents such as the attempted attack on the Flydubai flight become more frequent. Netanyahu will clearly try to present himself as the one who can master these challenges. His opponents, however, will do the same.”
The threat of a lone wolf
La Repubblica takes a closer look at the alleged attacker:
“In all the reports he is described as an Omani national. His nationality comes as a surprise to analysts because there is no fundamentalist presence in that country: there was only one attack in 2024, which was attributed to IS. ... Information leaked from Tel Aviv rules out the possibility that he belonged to an Islamist group. If he is a jihadist, then we are facing the greatest nightmare in the fight against terrorism: the 'lone wolf' who turns to violence without having any concrete links to al-Qaeda, the Caliphate or pro-Iranian networks.”
We should all take over the controls
Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova sees the incident as a metaphor for the situation we all find ourselves in. She writes on Facebook:
“The aircraft went into a nosedive and was about to crash. But the passengers, Israeli citizens, stormed into the cockpit – apparently accompanied by a flight attendant – and restrained the attacker. The plane was then safely landed by pilots who happened to be on board as passengers. ... Our whole life is like an aeroplane in which we fly as passengers while a fierce struggle is taking place in the closed cockpit. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do – at least not until people like you intervene and other, normal pilots take control.”
Israeli airline more secure
The attempt would not have been possible on Israeli flag carrier El Al because Israel has learned from previous experience with hijackings, Polityka observes:
“The Israeli authorities, including the Shin Bet and the Mossad, suspect that the incident may have been a terrorist attack. The pilot, who is from Oman, is said to have attempted to seize control of the aircraft and deliberately cause it to crash. ... The case of the Israeli airline El Al is a very special one. ... The experiences of the 1960s and 1970s led to a change in the security measures implemented by the Israeli authorities on board and at airports. Undercover agents from the security services, trained to deal with crisis situations, were present on every El Al flight.”
A new brand of antisemitism
Extreme though the incident may be, it is by no means an isolated case, news website Liberal comments:
“It is part of a growing trend of aggression manifesting not only in the Arab world but also in the West. This new form of antisemitism, fuelled and propagated by Muslim elites, is not based on the old racist characteristics. Rather it holds the entire people of Israel, as well as Jews in the diaspora, jointly responsible for the actions of the Israeli government (criticism of which is not antisemitism). This is evident from the growing number of attacks on synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, schools, restaurants, cultural centres and tourist groups, as well as graffiti on walls and other incidents.”