Ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government called for increased military action on all regional fronts following what Israeli officials described as an attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight carrying more than 100 Israeli passengers on Wednesday.
Ministers and opposition politicians praised the Israeli passengers aboard the flybubai aircraft, saying that they saved many lives and potentially prevented a disaster on the scale of 9/11. Netanyahu confirmed that one of the pilots on the flight had carried out a stabbing attack.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was the first member of the government to issue a statement after the incident, calling for action to be taken against “whoever tried to crash a plane and murder 180 Israelis. He and every state or terrorist organization that sent him,” he wrote.
He called for Israel to “address the intent and not the results.”
There is currently no evidence to suggest the suspected hijacker had backing from a foreign actor.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shared a report from Channel 14 saying that the hijacker had planned an attack akin to 9/11. This report has not been verified, and the motive of the pilot has not been clarified at this time.
Calling for increased military action on all fronts, he said that “Israel has done tremendous work over the past two and a half years, but it must not stop and must continue until achieving a complete victory in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria.”
“The naive perception that our enemies value life and should be shown mercy received another reminder this morning in the form of a terrorist who planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board.”
“Terror is an evil that must never be met with any agreement other than defeating it and wiping it off the face of the earth,” Ben-Gvir added.
Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar stated, “Thank God Almighty for the great miracles and for the Israeli heroes who showed tremendous resourcefulness and saved many lives. Israel’s enemies will pay dearly.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s office said it had no comment on the incident when approached by The Jerusalem Post for the minister’s response.
Asked what immediate steps Sa’ar had taken after the incident of the flybubai plane was first reported to ensure the safe return of the Israelis on the plane, his office told the Post it would not provide details at this time and that the Prime Minister’s Office was managing the incident.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev had requested that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) halt all flights by the airline flydubai entering and exiting the country following the incident, a source in the ministry confirmed to the Post.
According to the source, Regev’s request came after unverified reports indicating that the co-pilot suspected of hijacking the plane may have been of Omani origin. Flydubai’s agreement to operate in Israel explicitly states that all pilots must be from countries that have normalized relations with Israel, which does not include Oman.
Netanyahu and Regev later arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport to greet the passengers who landed back in Israel on Wednesday evening.
Party leaders in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the October 27 election praised the passengers who were on the plane, while also condemning the government for attempting to use the incident for political gain.
Their comments came in response to reports and attempts by Netanyahu’s political allies and supporters to portray the incident as vindication of the prime minister’s warnings a day earlier about possible attacks on Israel ahead of the Knesset election.
Lapid: Flydubai incident was not mentioned during security briefing on Tuesday
Earlier in the day, opposition leader Yair Lapid clarified that the flydubai incident had not been mentioned, even indirectly, during the security briefing he received from Netanyahu on Tuesday night.
Leader of The Democrats party Yair Golan said that he was “filled with pride in the brave Israelis who, in a moment of danger, displayed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage, though adding that he “despised the disgraceful attempts by the ‘Hamas is an asset’ government to play cheap politics at the expense of that heroism.”
Yisrael Beytenu party leader MK Avigdor Liberman also praised the Israelis on the flight, while adding that “the attempt by the mouthpieces and government-affiliated figures to turn an incident involving the hijacking of a plane, when civilians were in danger and facing uncertainty, into political capital is disgraceful.”
Liberman added that nothing surprises him anymore about Netanyahu’s government.
“While people were fighting for their lives, they were looking for a way to manufacture a spin,” he added, vowing to soon replace “this insane government.”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B’Yachad party, also praised the Israelis on the plane, saying, “Where else in the world would you find a people like this, where civilians calmly take control of an armed assailant at an altitude of thousands of meters while the plane is in a dive, saving the lives of 180 people?”
“The entire people of Israel are proud of you and salute you for your bravery and resourcefulness,” he said.