Lapid says Netanyahu's security briefing gave no hint of flydubai incident

Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said on Wednesday that the security briefing he received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous evening contained no reference to anything like the incident that took place that morning aboard a flydubai flight heading for Tel Aviv. The Times of Israel reported that the incident was being treated as a possible attack, and that Lapid had sought the briefing after Netanyahu warned a day earlier that there were signs Israel's enemies might try to carry out attacks before the October 27 election.

In a statement carried by several Hebrew-language outlets, Lapid wrote that nothing even close to the plane incident had come up in the update. He added, in his own words, that it was "not similar, not reminiscent, not even by hint." According to N12, he went on to accuse government-aligned commentators of using the episode to score "cheap politics" at the cost of Israel's security, calling them a "reckless gang."

Why the briefing became a political dispute

The exchange grew out of Netanyahu's public warning about possible attacks in the run-up to the vote. The Times of Israel said that opposition figures had responded by accusing the prime minister of stoking fear without grounds, with some suggesting he was trying to undermine the election itself. Lapid demanded an urgent security briefing and then met Netanyahu.

After the flydubai incident on Wednesday morning, some voices on the political right argued that it showed the prime minister had been right to raise the alarm. Lapid's statement was a direct response to that argument: his point was that whatever Netanyahu had in mind, it was not an incident of this kind.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a senior figure in Netanyahu's coalition, weighed in with a different framing. Ynet reported that Smotrich said Israel needs to look at intentions rather than outcomes.

Who is Yair Lapid

Lapid is the head of the parliamentary opposition and briefly served as prime minister, which is why some Hebrew outlets, including the channel run by journalist Amit Segal, introduced his statement under the title of former prime minister. The Jerusalem Post, which also reported his remarks, described him as campaigning as part of the Together party.

In Israel, the prime minister is expected to keep the opposition leader informed on major security matters, and such briefings are usually confidential. That is part of why Lapid's public account of what was and was not said is unusual: he is characterising the content of the meeting in broad terms in order to rebut a political claim.

A Hebrew term in the statement

Lapid used the word shofarot, literally "shofars" or "horns." In Israeli political slang it refers to media commentators and online figures seen as echoing the line of a political leader, roughly equivalent to "mouthpieces" in English. Opponents of Netanyahu frequently use it to describe his supporters in the press.

The flydubai flight

flydubai is an airline based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and operates flights to Tel Aviv. The reports describe what happened on board only as a possible attack on a flight bound for Tel Aviv, and as "the plane incident" in Hebrew coverage. None of the reports gathered here gives details of what occurred, whether anyone was hurt, or where the aircraft was at the time.

What the reports do not say

• What exactly happened aboard the flydubai flight, and whether Israeli authorities have confirmed it was an attempted attack.
• What threats Netanyahu did raise in the briefing. Lapid said only what was absent from it.
• Whether Netanyahu or his office has responded to Lapid's account of the meeting.
• Which commentators Lapid was referring to, and what Smotrich's remark was addressing in full.
• Whether the incident has any link to the pre-election threats Netanyahu described.

Israel.com will update this report if officials release further information about the flight or the briefing.