Watchdogs uncovered conspiracy theories blaming Israel for staging flydubai incident

The incident began at 1:21 a.m. ET, when a Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers transmitted emergency distress signals after the copilot stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft. Passengers and crew intervened to subdue the attacker before the plane diverted safely to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

“What’s striking here isn’t just the volume – it’s the speed,” ARC research associate Oliver Marks said. “Sixty-seven 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.”

Conspiracy content escalated rapidly after the initial post, reaching 100 posts by 3:07 a.m. ET, 500 posts by 5:42 a.m. ET, 1,000 posts by 7:35 a.m. ET, and 2,000 posts by 9:36 a.m. ET, with volume continuing to rise until collection ended at 10:43 a.m. ET.

About 72% of all tracked false-flag posts promoted these conspiracy theories, rising to 82% in the final hour. Peak hourly volume occurred between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, recording 623 posts, the report said.

The ARC study said: “The 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.”

CyberWell founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor said: “Today’s horrific attack aboard a flydubai flight from the UAE to Israel is an ugly reminder of how quickly online antisemitism can distort the facts of an unfolding event. After a copilot allegedly stabbed the second pilot and attempted to take control of the aircraft, Israeli passengers helped restrain him and keep the injured pilot alive before the plane diverted safely to Saudi Arabia.”

“As news of the incident spread, ‘false flag’ claims quickly emerged on social media, alleging that Israelis had hijacked the plane or staged the attack,” he said. “These claims reflect a broader pattern of conspiratorial self-victimization, an antisemitic conspiracy that falsely accuses Jews or Israelis of orchestrating attacks against themselves to manipulate public opinion. It is a contemporary expression of Jew-hatred and a form of misinformation aimed at spreading hatred, distrust and disgust toward Jews.”

“Platforms and LLMs [large language models, i.e., artificial-intelligence programs] cannot rely on poisoned knowledge sources or automated systems that fail to recognize these rapidly evolving forms of antisemitic conspiracy,” he added. “They need real-time expertise from organizations like CyberWell that can identify emerging narratives, understand the context behind them, and help platforms respond effectively.”

“‘False flag’ conspiracy theories are particularly corrosive because they do more than deny an attack. They recast victims as perpetrators and can perpetuate violence by fueling hatred and encouraging further violence against Jews,” Cohen Montemayor said.