Washington Examiner
· collected 2026-10-05 · by Bradley Martin and Liram Koblentz-Stenzler
In less than 30 seconds on Wednesday morning, Flydubai Flight 1073 plunged nearly 14,000 feet.
asserted
Flight → plunge → morning
The flight was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with more than 170 passengers, most of them Israelis.
asserted
most → travel → them
According to Israeli officials, the co-pilot stabbed the captain and tried to crash the aircraft.
uncertain
pilot → accord → aircraft
The wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door.
asserted
captain → manage → door
Passengers and crew intervened, and two relief pilots traveling in the cabin took control and landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
asserted
pilots → intervene → Tabuk
Investigators haven’t established a motive, and Flydubai has warned against premature conclusions.
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Flydubai → establish → conclusions
But what happened aboard Flight 1073 was far more serious than the “dispute” or “fight” between two pilots that some international reports continue to describe.
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reports → happen → that
A pilot was stabbed.
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pilot → stab → ?
The aircraft plunged thousands of feet.
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aircraft → plunge → feet
Passengers intervened, and Israeli authorities say the co-pilot was trying to bring down a plane carrying more than 170 people.
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pilot → intervene → people
Reducing this to a cockpit dispute does more than make the incident sound less serious.
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incident → reduce → more
It leaves room for a familiar conspiracy narrative: Israel is exaggerating what happened, or Jews and Israelis are again presenting themselves as victims.
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Jews → leave → victims
Such claims travel quickly online.
uncertain
claims → travel → ?
An act of violence is minimized, the Israeli account is then offered as evidence of manipulation, and the resulting conspiracy theories become new material for antisemitic discourse.
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theories → minimize → discourse
If investigators find that the alleged attacker acted out of anti-Israel ideological or nationalist motives, the choice of target would be significant.
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choice → find → target
Such an attack would follow a logic we also saw on Oct. 7, 2023: attacking not only Israelis, but the possibility of their integration into the region.
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we → follow → region
If Israelis can travel and do business openly with their Arab neighbors, the vision advanced by Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed jihadist organizations is weakened.
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vision → travel → Hamas
A civilian aircraft connecting Dubai and Tel Aviv represents precisely the kind of coexistence these groups have sought to destroy.
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groups → connect → coexistence
Whatever investigators determine about this particular attacker, the incident comes amid a troubling change in antisemitic violence.
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incident → determine → violence
The Anti-Defamation League recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2025, down 33% from the post-Oct. 7 peak a year earlier.
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League → record → peak
At first glance, that sounds like progress.
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that → sound → progress
But physical assaults rose to a record 203, while attacks involving deadly weapons increased 39%.
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attacks → rise → weapons
Three people were murdered in antisemitic attacks on American soil.
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people → murder → soil
In seven of the 32 assaults involving deadly weapons, according to the ADL, victims were targeted because of their real or perceived support for Israel.
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victims → involve → Israel
Tel Aviv University’s Antisemitism Worldwide Report for 2025 found a similar development internationally.
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Report → find → development
Twenty Jews were murdered in four antisemitic attacks across three continents, the highest death toll from antisemitic attacks in more than three decades.
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Jews → murder → decades
In several countries, the overall number of incidents declined while physical violence remained high or increased.
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violence → decline → incidents
France recorded fewer antisemitic incidents in 2025 than in 2024, for example, while physical attacks rose from 106 to 126.
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attacks → record → 126
The important story isn’t simply that antisemitism remains widespread.
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antisemitism → remain → ?
It is that after several years of extraordinarily high levels of antisemitic hostility, physical violence is becoming a larger part of the threat.
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violence → become → threat
Five months ago, we argued that Iran and its proxies were weaponizing antisemitism as a low-cost means of bringing conflict to Western soil.
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Iran → argue → soil
But the harder counterterrorism problem may be what happens when no recruitment is necessary at all.
uncertain
recruitment → happen → ?
A man drove a truck into the synagogue and opened fire.
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man → drive → fire
The FBI later concluded that the attack was inspired by Hezbollah.
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attack → conclude → Hezbollah
Investigators found no evidence of co-conspirators, and the attacker wasn’t on the terrorist watch list.
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attacker → find → list
His online history, however, showed repeated consumption of Hezbollah and Iranian material.
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history → show → Hezbollah
Shortly before the attack, he searched for the “largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan” and sent messages describing his intention to kill as many people as possible.
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he → search → people
This is the distinction counterterrorism needs to confront.
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counterterrorism → need → ?
A lone actor doesn’t need instructions from Tehran, Hamas, or Hezbollah.
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actor → need → Tehran
He can absorb narratives, grievances, and ideological justifications circulating around him, come to regard Jews or Israelis as legitimate targets, and decide to act.
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He → absorb → targets
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
