Netanyahu, Miri Regev ‘celebrating failure’ after Flydubai hijacking attempt, Bennett says
Bennett and Eisenkot called for Transportation Minster Miri Regev to resign after the attempted hijacking
Opposition leaders have come out to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for celebrating the failure of the attempted hijacking of Flydubai Flight 1073, saying that any serious government would have fired the Transport Minister for allowing the attempt to happen at all on its watch.
Former Prime Minister and B'Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett praised the heroes who stopped the hijacking, saying "We truly have a nation of lions." However, he quickly turned his eye to the government, saying that their "failure is terrible—shocking."
"Any reasonable government would have treated this incident as if a plane had crashed and 174 Israelis had been murdered," he continued. "Any prime minister who cares about Israel's security would have demanded answers from his Transportation Minister, Miri Regev, and fired her immediately."
"Instead of drawing lessons to prevent the next disaster, Netanyahu and Miri Regev are celebrating the failure that occurred on their watch," Bennett said.
Bennett further questioned Israelis’ safety, asking if any Iranian pilots had flown to Israel and drew a direct line from October 7 to this incident as another sign of the deteriorating security situation.
Former director general of the Ministry of Transportation and B'Yachad party candidate Keren Turner sharply criticised Regev, saying: "She is the one who chose to make a decision contrary to the position of the Shin Bet and the National Security Council that the Transportation Ministry’s security lacks the capacity to meet the required security standards. Yet, for the sake of a bit more authority and a few more political appointments, Miri Regev chose to endanger all our lives."
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot also came out to condemn the government and call for Miri Regev's resignation, saying, "In a proper, well-functioning government, the Minister of Transportation would have submitted her resignation yesterday evening. Since she failed to do so, the Prime Minister should have dismissed her immediately."
Eisenkot too, linked this failure to the government's failure to establish an independent inquiry into October 7, saying, "A clear line connects October 7th to the current failure: the culture of lies, cover-ups, and evasion of responsibility introduced by Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers."