Anyone who has ever flown to Israel knows that it is a patience-testing exercise. In addition to the usual security checks, Israel has special extra checks - especially if you are traveling with an Israeli airline. Personally, I basically always get stuck in the even more extended searches, where my luggage is gone through pinal by pinal and I have to answer a large number of questions about who I am and what I really have to do in Israel.
The Flydubai plane that was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday does not seem to have gone through the same thorough investigation - at least not the pilot who is currently suspected of wanting to carry out a terrorist attack.
This is particularly noteworthy because the night before the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his people that "a major terrorist threat" looms ahead of the elections, which are due to be decided on October 27.
Now both his warning and the failed security check are being used as clubs by different parts of the Israeli political community. The pro-Netanyahu side says "what did we say" and the anti-Netanyahu side says "how could you miss this TOO". "Also" comes from the persistent criticism of how the Israeli government could have missed the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas.
It remains to be seen which side will win the discourse. It also remains to be seen what exactly drove the Omani pilot to do what he did, reportedly pulling a knife on his colleague, but what is clear is that an emergency situation arose in the cockpit and the aircraft dropped thousands of meters in altitude within 30 seconds. Many passengers on the plane thought their last moment had come.
In social media, conspiracy theories are built where people use the event to confirm their respective worldviews. Some think it is a little too "timely" that a suspected hijacking attempt is coming right now - and that Israeli passengers managed to stop it. That it all feels too cinematic to be true.
One can of course think so. But then you have a poor insight into how prepared the Israeli people are in general for emergency situations. Terrorist attacks are not uncommon in Israel, neither from the Muslim nor from the Jewish side, although it is mainly about the Muslims.
Israelis learn from childhood to be constantly prepared for someone to kill them. They claim that people in Gaza and the West Bank are being trained to want to kill Jews. They do a three-year military service where they learn to handle weapons and overpower attackers and then become reservists who can be recalled to duty at any time. In the past three years, many have been forced back into war.
The plane most likely managed to avoid crashing mainly because the Indian pilot managed to open the door to the cockpit. In addition, there were two other pilots on board who could take over the flight. But first the threat had to be dealt with and three Israeli men appear to have risked their own lives to do so.
That's what they've been trained for.
The possibility exists that there were completely different reasons than terror and jihadism that drove the suspected pilot. In the Israeli election campaign, however, it is already accepted that the threats to Israel are greater than ever - and that the people must elect a government that can deal with them.
It is also clear that traveling to Israel is not going to become any less patient in the near future. On the contrary.
