Terrorists want nothing more than to prevent peace.
asserted
Terrorists → want → peace
It’s why they fly planes into buildings, don explosive vests and rain indiscriminate missiles on civilian populations.
asserted
they → ’ → populations
The response to such terrorism isn’t to cower — but to lead with boldness, courage and, sometimes, outright heroism.
asserted
response → cower → boldness
The world saw such heroism this week in the high drama of FlyDubai Flight 1073, from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
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world → see → Aviv
There was pilot Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, who had the presence of mind to open the cockpit door as he was brutally stabbed by his terrorist Omani co-pilot, in a plane nose-diving 10,000 feet a minute.
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he → be → plane
There were the ordinary Israeli citizens — and above all new national hero Yaniv Hayoun — who, Todd Beamer-style, swiftly rushed the cockpit and subdued the terrorist in a chokehold.
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who → be → chokehold
There was the Emirati flight crew, which handled the madness with aplomb, preventing chaos in a terrified cabin and ensuring the passengers’ safety.
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which → be → safety
There were the two off-duty pilots — reportedly British, South African or New Zealander in nationality — who were somehow able to glide the plane to a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
uncertain
who → be → Arabia
That’s extraordinary, as a military pilot pointed out to Israeli tech writer Hillel Fuld: “In virtually every historical incident where an airliner got anywhere close to these speeds, the tail ripped off the entire back of the plane.
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tail → ’ → plane
In the Bible’s Book of Esther, God is not mentioned once.
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God → mention → Esther
His name doesn’t need to appear: His presence is felt, and seen, everywhere.
So it is with the events aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073.
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it → need → Flight
Some have reacted to this mesmerizing story in knee-jerk fashion.
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Some → react → fashion
They have leapt to call for the cancellation of all direct flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates — and perhaps downgrading the ties between Israel and the Arab world more broadly.
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They → leap → Israel
The anti-Israel press may have downplayed the harrowing affair as a “pilot altercation,” but the fact is a Muslim pilot tried to crash a plane full of Jews.
uncertain
pilot → downplay → Jews
That looks like terrorism — and that’s certainly what the Israelis think happened.
asserted
Israelis → look → terrorism
But terror attacks and near-terror attacks must not be permitted to derail peace.
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attacks → permit → peace
Allowing that would actually do the terrorists’ bidding.
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Allowing → allow → bidding
The Abraham Accords, those dynamic 2020 peace agreements that normalized Israeli relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, must go on.
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that → normalize → UAE
Indeed, they must expand.
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they → expand → ?
Many predicted the Abraham Accords would die after the Hamas savagery of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in Gaza.
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Accords → predict → Gaza
They didn’t.
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They → do → ?
The Iran conflict, which has seen the Islamic Republic strike the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, has sent an unmistakable message: The threat to the Sunni Gulf states doesn’t come from Jerusalem.
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threat → see → Jerusalem
It comes from Tehran.
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It → come → Tehran
That’s why, just days before the near-catastrophe aboard Flight 1073, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with representatives from eight different Arab countries.
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Netanyahu → ’ → countries
Prior to that confab, Netanyahu rendezvoused directly with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed — the first time such a bilateral meeting was publicly verified by both countries.
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meeting → rendezvous → countries
Perhaps, then, the attempted terror attack timing isn’t a coincidence: The rumor mill has been swirling that Kuwait might soon join the Abraham Accords.
uncertain
Kuwait → attempt → Accords
It’s not hard to see what’s going on here.
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what → ’ → ?
Before the Oct. 7 pogrom, Saudi Arabia — the de facto leader of the Arab world — was on the precipice of making peace with Israel.
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Arabia → make → Israel
Just weeks previously, Netanyahu dedicated much of his September 2023 address to the UN General Assembly to the topic; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News’ Bret Baier that September, “every day we get closer” to diplomatic normalization.
Peace seemed imminent.
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Peace → dedicate → normalization
One of the aims of Hamas’ massacre was to stop Israeli-Saudi normalization in its tracks.
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One → stop → tracks
But despite the setback, the House of Saud still knows that peace with Israel is an inevitability.
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peace → know → Israel
We cannot allow this week’s would-be terrorist copilot to succeed, either.
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copilot → allow → ?
This is not the time to pump the diplomatic brakes.
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This → pump → brakes
And we might have to brace ourselves for additional attempted terror attacks, as jihadists once again try to stop peace.
uncertain
jihadists → have → peace
Israel is undoubtedly prepared for that, and the Arab states should prepare too.
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states → prepare → that
But the pursuit of regional peace must go on.
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pursuit → go → peace