Within a day: 3,000 antisemitic conspiracy posts blame Israel for flydubai ‘false flag,’ garner 3 million views

Within just 12 hours of the attempted flydubai attack on Wednesday, the social media platform 𝕏 exploded with almost 3,000 online posts blaming Israel for orchestrating a “false flag” operation, according to data compiled by the Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) at the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

An Omani pilot had stabbed his Indian copilot, attempting to crash the plane and kill all 176 passengers, most of them Israelis. However, the Indian pilot managed to open the cabin door, which allowed passengers to subdue the attacker before a second flight crew landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.

The first post on 𝕏 blaming Israel for a false flag was recorded just 67 minutes after the plane sent its first emergency distress signal. “Within five hours, the ARC documented 1,000 hostile posts, and over the full 12-hour monitoring period a total of 2,963 posts were identified attributing the incident to Israel, the Mossad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists, or Jews,” according to the center.

“The posts generated at least 30,000 likes and three million views. The narrative proliferated rapidly until it conquered the 𝕏 discourse on the incident. In the final two hours of the analysis, 81% of all tracked 𝕏 posts using the term ‘false flag’ contained antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

ARC Research Associate Oliver Marks noted how quickly the incident was blamed on Israel, despite the details not yet being known at the time.

It took no time for conspiracy theories to flood in after the attack on the FlyDubai flight to Israel.

Somehow, facts are excused when it comes to fighting any stories where Jews are the victims.

An Indian pilot getting stabbed, emergency calls to other flights, and the lives… pic.twitter.com/ATFdTKfKC4

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 1, 2026

“67 minutes is all it took for the near downing of a commercial airliner by a terrorist pilot to become fodder for antisemitic conspiracy theorists across the globe. It’s clear this isn’t a narrative that forms in response to an incident. Rather, it’s part of a script that already exists, sitting ready for use whenever opportunities arise.”

According to the ARC, this pattern “mirrors the influence operations that hostile states, Russia foremost among them, use to destabilize Western societies: sowing social division, exploiting breaking news events, and portraying Israel and Jews as the ‘hidden hand’ behind them.”

I thought oxygen masks come out when planes suddenly nosedive 14,000 feet.
Like in this picture. pic.twitter.com/tA8aT8mDVj

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) October 2, 2026

The claims were also shared by several prominent critics of Israel online. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a picture of emergency oxygen masks deployed inside a plane, commenting, “I thought oxygen masks come out when planes suddenly nosedive 14,000 feet. Like in this picture.”

However, multiple respondents pointed out that emergency masks are deployed in the case of a rapid loss of pressure in the cabin, which was not the case.

Other conspiracies focused on alleged evidence pointing toward collusion between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the United Arab Emirates.

This is a good example of how Jew hate—or antisemitism, or whatever you want to call it—is not the same as other forms of bigotry.

It’s an entire worldview that can lead you to believing that hundreds of people, every single plane record, and dozens of videos are all lying in…

— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) October 2, 2026

Left-wing political commentator and online streamer Hasan Piker offered his assessment of the incident, acknowledging that “some elements of the story are plausible.”

However, he went on to claim that the account “reeks of conspiracy,” has multiple “red flags,” and noted that it seemed suspicious “given that the story is connected to Israel.” Piker also pointed to Netanyahu’s recent visit to the UAE and warned about potential terror attacks in the near future as part of his discussion.

Piker also claimed that it would not be possible for the plane to remain intact during its rapid nosedive and argued that footage showing the aircraft’s interior was “not consistent” with the G-forces that would have been experienced during the dive.

"Hours before the attack" - Nope.

This report by Fars was written ~6 hours ago - Roughly 4+ hours AFTER the FlyDubai incident was first reported.

The source of this claim is just an unnamed "foreign intelligence deputy of one of Iran’s security bodies" - That's it.

Even the… https://t.co/3ecwt5tyoN pic.twitter.com/2CgNrAsV6A

— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) September 30, 2026

Jackson Hinkle, a co-founder of the American Communist Party who has repeatedly expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah, wrote on 𝕏: “Just like 9/11, the attempted FlyDubai hijacking was planned by the Israeli government & the official narrative has huge mathematic inconsistencies.”

Another claim circulated by multiple accounts alleged that Iran’s Fars News Agency had “reported intelligence that Israel was planning an aviation attack that would be blamed on Tehran to ‘generate international pressure.’”

Ana Kasparian says the attempted FlyDubai hijacking was a false flag meant to “victimize Israelis.”

Genuinely don’t understand how their viewers never just take a step back and ask themselves if this is the slop they want to keep watching. pic.twitter.com/3s0KAVLQXZ

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) October 1, 2026

Tal Hagin, a media literacy lecturer and open-source intelligence analyst, pointed out that the report was published “Roughly 4+ hours AFTER the FlyDubai incident was first reported. The source of this claim is just an unnamed ‘foreign intelligence deputy of one of Iran’s security bodies’ – That's it.”