The crisis involving the Fly Dubai airplane may lead to a slight improvement in Netanyahu and his team's popularity, but it does not achieve the coup that the head of the occupying government desired, who is suffering from nightmares of isolation, trials, and fears for his political and personal future.
Regardless of whether the crisis with the Emirati airplane was orchestrated and preplanned or spontaneous and uncalculated, it did not help Netanyahu provide the excuse he wanted to launch wars that would delay the elections, which is the only remaining means for him to save himself.
Any bloody outcome from the incident would have served Netanyahu's purposes; apart from being an excuse to ignite wars and postpone elections, it also involves an attempt to restore the narrative of the victim that has collapsed after the genocidal wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and other areas. It would have led to rekindling and inflating the Jewish community's feelings in Israel with hatred, the desire for revenge, and full support for those who adopt this policy in Israel.
It would also have revitalized claims of anti-Semitism and reduced the repercussions of opposing and objectionable policies in Europe and around the world against what Israel is committing in the region, dragging America back into war. Moreover, there is something to be said regarding the choice of where the plane was saved, to land in Saudi territory, while it could have landed in Jordan; the goal here is to implicate Saudi Arabia and force it to normalize its relations with Israel or accuse it of involvement and responsibility for the disaster.
Saudi Arabia acted wisely and protected its sovereignty; it refused the Israeli request to send Israeli planes to return passengers to Tel Aviv, and the authorities did everything legally required in such cases to provide necessary service, allowing passengers to leave through an Emirati plane.
The Israeli narrative that Netanyahu boasted about did not fool anyone; neither did the Israeli opposition digest the narrative, nor did Trump, who mocked it publicly. While it is unlikely that the investigations involving the plane's captain and his Omani assistant will yield results, there are many skeptical questions, indicating another security and intelligence failure in Israel. This incident deals another blow to the myth of Israeli security superiority, following the failures it faced starting from October 7, 2023, which strips Israel of one of its most important claims of superiority.
In Israel, this failure does not leave Netanyahu, his security apparatus, and his coalition team unscathed.
Days before the crisis involving the Fly Dubai flight, Netanyahu stated that he had indicators of potential attacks against Israel, and that its enemies were trying to attack before the elections. Such a statement exposes the intentions of the head of the occupying government, who suggests that he is arranging something or waiting for an event that will grant him the weapon he wants to prove his extraordinary leadership and security abilities, providing him with the excuse to postpone the elections.
Israeli security agencies exposed Netanyahu when they concluded that Israel does not face the threat that Netanyahu speaks of, and that was before the airplane crisis. The testimony of the Israeli security agencies practically stripped from Netanyahu the possibility of using the airplane excuse, but will he give up?
It is certain that Netanyahu will not give in, and will try to concoct another excuse, perhaps this time more solid and convincing than the airplane excuse, and once again I believe that Netanyahu is searching for an excuse that leads to a real war just enough to justify declaring a state of emergency and thus postponing the elections.
Netanyahu still has three weeks to invent such an excuse, and the situation in the region is generally open to such possibilities, even if it requires bypassing American objections, especially after Trump lifted the cover from him, as did many other parties in the region and the world.