Lapid: Plane hijack not mentioned in Netanyahu briefing

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded Wednesday to the Fly Dubai hijack attempt, in which a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after passengers and crew overpowered the aircraft—following an attack by the co-pilot on the captain in an apparent attempt to crash the plane. In his statement, Lapid referenced his meeting last night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and clarified that no incident of this kind was mentioned in the security briefing he received.

"Let me be clear. Nothing remotely like this morning's plane incident appeared in the security briefing with the prime minister last night," Lapid said. "Not similar, not a hint, not even remotely."

He also addressed attempts by Netanyahu to link the current incident to his warnings yesterday about potential attacks on Israel before the elections. According to Lapid, "The whole spin that the trumpets are doing now only proves what was already clear yesterday—that they're trying again to do cheap politics at the expense of Israel's security. A reckless bunch."

Footage from the moments of terror aboard the plane (Via Amit Segal's Telegram)

Lapid met with Netanyahu overnight for a security briefing, following the unusual warning Netanyahu issued that there are signs Israel's enemies may attempt to attack the country in the period before the elections. The meeting took place at Lapid's request, after he approached the Prime Minister's Office following Netanyahu's remarks and asked to understand the threat picture and the preparations ahead of the elections.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Lapid clarified that he would not disclose the content of the security briefing he received, but criticized the manner in which Netanyahu presented the threat to the public. "Security threats are something that needs to be handled professionally and responsibly," Lapid wrote. "Israel's security and IDF bases are not props for election videos. Updates about threats should come from the professionals, from the IDF, from the Shin Bet, not from the Twitter account of a politician who is in an election campaign."

Lapid added that "before October 7th Netanyahu didn't respond to any warning, 28 days before the elections suddenly he's busy with scare tactics." According to him, without disclosing the information presented to him, "the IDF, Shin Bet and police are prepared for the elections and there is no reason to send the public into a panic."

The opposition leader also connected the issue to the dispute over chareidi enlistment and claimed that if Netanyahu is concerned about the security situation, he should act to draft "the 15,000 chareidim missing from the IDF." In addition, Lapid demanded to convene a four-way meeting with his participation, Netanyahu, Shin Bet chief David Zini and Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Solberg, to coordinate preparations ahead of election day.