Israeli opposition leader accuses govt of 'cheap politics' over Flydubai incident
Lapid also accused voices aligned with the government of using the incident to advance a political narrative.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused the government of exploiting the emergency involving a Flydubai passenger plane for political purposes, saying such moves come at the expense of Israel's security.
According to The Middle East Monitor, Lapid rejected attempts to connect Wednesday's incident involving Flydubai flight FZ1073 with a security briefing he received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous evening.
"Let me make this clear. Nothing even resembling this morning's plane incident appeared in the security briefing with the prime minister last night. Nothing similar, nothing reminiscent of it, not even a hint," he said on X.
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Lapid also accused voices aligned with the government of using the incident to advance a political narrative.
"All the spin the mouthpieces are doing now only proves what was already clear yesterday — that they are once again trying to make cheap politics at the expense of Israel's security," he said, adding: "An irresponsible bunch."
His comments came a day after Netanyahu briefed him on security concerns and warned of an unspecified possible attack ahead of Israel's 27 October election.
Following that meeting, Lapid said there was "no reason to put the public in a panic" and called for security threats to be dealt with "professionally and responsibly".
The political dispute followed an emergency involving Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when it transmitted emergency and unlawful-interference codes before diverting to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled during the incident.
Israeli authorities initially examined the possibility of a hijacking or other security incident. Later reports indicated that an altercation had taken place in the cockpit, although authorities were still investigating the circumstances and motive.
Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk said the aircraft's captain and first officer were injured and taken to hospital for medical treatment.
The incident has since become a subject of political dispute in Israel, with opposition figures accusing the government and its allies of seeking to use the episode to reinforce security messaging ahead of the election.
