Israel Recognizes Flydubai Passengers as Terror Victims After Hijacking Attempt

Good Morning, Israel · Tuesday, November 10, 2026 · 7:09

Good Morning, Israel · Episode 44

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1. Israel Recognizes Flydubai Passengers as Terror Victims After Hijacking Attempt
2. Israel Proposes New Aviation Tax, Potentially Raising Ticket Prices
3. Right-Wing Activists Questioned by Police After Lod Brawl
4. President Taps Eisenkot to Form Government Amid Political Maneuvering
5. Israel's Knesset Swears In Amidst Political Maneuvering and Coalition Talks
6. Israel: Charges Filed in Brutal Abuse Case at Ariel Daycare Center

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Maya

One hundred and seventy-four people on a hijacked plane are now officially recognized by Israel as victims of terror.

Daniel

And they're alive because passengers and crew fought back against the pilot.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Tuesday, November tenth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Let's start with that Flydubai flight. Six weeks ago, a plane in the air, and the threat was in the cockpit.

Daniel

Right. Flydubai is a budget airline based in Dubai. According to Israel's Defense Ministry, the flight was hijacked by its own pilot, Hamam al-Hamami, who intended to crash it in Israel.

Maya

A suspected terror attack using a passenger jet as the weapon.

Daniel

Exactly. And he was stopped. Passengers and crew confronted him and thwarted the plan.

Maya

So what's the news today?

Daniel

The Defense Ministry has formally recognized all one hundred and seventy-four passengers as victims of hostile acts. That's the official Israeli category for victims of terror.

Maya

What does that recognition actually do for them?

Daniel

It opens the door to state support. The decision has gone to the National Insurance Institute, Israel's social security agency, which handles benefits and compensation for terror victims.

Maya

And the people who fought back got more than paperwork.

Daniel

They did. President Isaac Herzog honored several passengers for their bravery in confronting the attacker.

Maya

Ordinary travelers, in a narrow aisle, deciding to act.

Daniel

And by Israel's account, that's the reason this is a story about survivors.

Maya

To politics. Today Israel's twenty-sixth Knesset is sworn in.

Daniel

The Knesset is Israel's parliament. One hundred and twenty lawmakers, from eleven different party lists, taking the oath.

Maya

We told you yesterday Gadi Eisenkot has the mandate and twenty-eight days. What's moved since?

Daniel

A deal on the Speaker. Eisenkot and Avigdor Lieberman have agreed that Eisenkot's party will provide the next Speaker of the Knesset.

Maya

Wait, these are the two who were reportedly at each other's throats over the weekend.

Daniel

Right, and they still disagree on the big question, a minority government relying on Raam, the United Arab List. But on the Speaker, they've found common ground.

Maya

So they can agree on who holds the gavel, just not on who holds the votes.

Daniel

That's about where things stand.

Maya

Why does the Speaker matter so much?

Daniel

The Speaker controls the Knesset's agenda, which bills come up and when. In a fragile coalition fight, that's real power.

Maya

And the Haredi parties, the ultra-Orthodox?

Daniel

Still the key. United Torah Judaism, one of the two Haredi parties, is demanding what it calls appropriate guarantees regarding Torah scholars.

Maya

Meaning the young men studying in religious seminaries instead of serving in the army.

Daniel

Exactly. That's the draft issue again, the one Lieberman built his career on. Any deal between them has to square that circle.

Maya

And Netanyahu?

Daniel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps pushing a unity government, but one led by his Likud party. Meanwhile the Change Bloc, the anti-Netanyahu camp, is still struggling to put its own coalition together.

Maya

And the clock?

Daniel

Twenty-eight days, plus a possible fourteen. If Eisenkot fails, Netanyahu could get a turn. If that fails, new elections within ninety days.

Maya

Now to Lod, the mixed Jewish and Arab city in central Israel. We told you yesterday about Sunday's clashes. There's been follow-up.

Daniel

Lod police questioned two right-wing activists on Monday, Mordechai David and Ziv Barans, over their involvement in the brawl.

Maya

What was the event?

Daniel

A so-called sovereignty tour, organized by activists. It ended in clashes between the activists and others.

Maya

And the outcome of the questioning?

Daniel

Both were released under restrictive conditions, including a fifteen-day ban from entering Lod.

Maya

What about the eleven arrested on Sunday?

Daniel

All eleven have since been released. But police are stressing how seriously they're treating it.

Maya

Because the mayor had already warned about this.

Daniel

Right. Lod Mayor Yair Revivo had warned the event could escalate into Jewish-Arab riots. Lod saw serious violence like that before, so the city takes those warnings very seriously.

Maya

Now, a hard story. Charges in a child abuse case at a daycare in Ariel.

Daniel

Ariel is an Israeli city in Samaria, in the West Bank. Prosecutors have charged the operator and two caregivers of a private daycare called Luchik.

Maya

What are they accused of?

Daniel

Abusing seventeen infants and toddlers over several years. The indictment lists more than four hundred instances of severe mistreatment, including physical assault and suffocation.

Maya

Four hundred.

Daniel

Police described it as cruelty of extraordinary magnitude. All three remain in custody.

Maya

And the investigation isn't over.

Daniel

No. Investigators are still working to establish the full extent of the alleged abuse.

Maya

To the economy. Israel's budget deficit is growing, even though the government is collecting more tax.

Daniel

As of October, the deficit stands at seventy-four billion shekels. That's three point three percent of G D P.

Maya

And tax revenue?

Daniel

Up ten percent so far this year. Which sounds great, until you look at spending.

Maya

Let me guess. Defense.

Daniel

Exactly. Defense spending jumped nine point nine percent, well beyond what the budget planned for.

Maya

Which isn't a mystery, given what Israel's been facing.

Daniel

Right. A country fighting on several fronts pays for it. But the gap between income and spending keeps widening.

Maya

And that connects to the flight tax we covered yesterday.

Daniel

It does. That proposed departure tax at Ben Gurion Airport is now part of the state budget discussions. The final hit to ticket prices depends on the formula adopted, and on what airlines decide to pass on.

Maya

So, the money has to come from somewhere, and some of it may come from your suitcase.

Daniel

Pretty much.

Maya

Quick one before we go. A major police operation against protection rackets.

Daniel

Israel Police arrested about fifty suspects nationwide, targeting fifteen protection racket rings. It wraps up a ten-month investigation.

Maya

Protection rackets. In what industry?

Daniel

Construction. According to police, the suspects posed as security providers at building sites, and extorted money from contractors.

Maya

The operation has a name, of course.

Daniel

Shadow Guardians. Five hundred officers took part.

Maya

And one arrest stands out.

Daniel

A local council head is among those arrested. Police estimate these rackets brought in hundreds of thousands of shekels every month.

Maya

So a guard you never asked for, at a price you can't refuse.

Daniel

That's the allegation, yes.

Maya

That's the show. Today, watch the swearing-in of the twenty-sixth Knesset, and whether the Speaker's chair goes to Eisenkot's party, as he and Lieberman agreed.

Daniel

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Maya

See you tomorrow morning.