Within 67 minutes of the first emergency distress signal from Flydubai Flight FZ1073, antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Israel for a "false flag" operation were already spreading across social media.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) documented 2,963 posts on X during a 12-hour monitoring period that attributed the thwarted terrorist attack to Israel, the Mossad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists, or Jews, according to a study released by the organization's Antisemitism Research Center. Within five hours, researchers had logged 1,000 such posts. The organization collected 4,136 posts containing the phrase "false flag," of which approximately 72% advanced conspiracy claims blaming Israel or Jews. In the final two hourly monitoring periods, that proportion rose to 81% and 82%, respectively.
The attack itself was no hoax. Flight FZ1073 was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Capt. Smit Machchhar and attempted to crash the Boeing 737. Despite being seriously wounded, Machchhar reportedly managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers to overpower the alleged attacker."
"What's striking here isn't just the volume, it's the speed," said Oliver Marks, a research associate at CAM's Antisemitism Research Center. "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."
CAM warned that such narratives can erase victims' suffering, redirect blame, and reinforce longstanding conspiracy theories portraying Jews as secretly manipulating world events. The organization's findings echo similar reports from The Times of Israel, which noted that thousands of posts online blamed Israel or Jews for a "false flag" attack shortly after the aircraft transmitted its initial distress signal.
Both President Donald Trump and UAE officials have indicated that Iran may be responsible for the incident, without definitively blaming Tehran. Netanyahu stressed he did not want to draw firm conclusions as to motive yet. "It's too early to say," he said when asked whether there was an indication of Iranian involvement.
The UAE state news agency reported that investigations have begun to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose." Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu both praised Capt. Machchhar as a "hero." India's ambassador to the UAE, Deepak Mittal, visited the pilot in the hospital on Thursday, confirming he was "in good health and recovering well."
The spread of these conspiracy theories follows a familiar pattern seen after major news events, where bad actors exploit the immediate fog of breaking news to push antisemitic narratives before facts are established. The speed at which these claims proliferated — with the first post appearing just over an hour after the distress signal — suggests a coordinated effort or at least a deeply embedded network of accounts primed to advance such narratives.
While the investigation into the attack continues, the social media reaction reveals a troubling reality: for many online, the default explanation for any terror attack involving Israel is that Israel itself is responsible. This reflexive antisemitism, dressed up as "just asking questions" or "false flag" skepticism, poisons public discourse and dishonors the victims of actual terrorism.
Our Take
Here's the thing, folks: within 67 minutes of a distress signal, before any investigation, before any facts, the usual suspects were already blaming the Jews. Not Iran. Not radical Islamic terrorism. Israel. The Mossad. Netanyahu. This isn't skepticism. This isn't "just asking questions."
The Combat Antisemitism Movement's findings reveal something deeply disturbing: 72% of posts containing "false flag" after this attack blamed Israel or Jews. By the end of the monitoring period, that number rose to over 80%. This is a coordinated narrative, one that mirrors exactly what CAM described as Russian-style influence operations designed to destabilize Western societies by portraying Jews as the hidden hand behind world events.
Think about what that means. A pilot — an Indian national, a hero who likely saved hundreds of lives — was stabbed and nearly crashed a plane full of innocent passengers. An Omani national with Islamist radicalization in his background tried to murder everyone on board. And within an hour, the online mob had decided it was Israel's fault. It's sickening. It's dangerous. And it's a reminder that antisemitism isn't a fringe phenomenon — it's a virus that spreads faster than any virus, especially on platforms that claim to be bastions of "safety" and "fact-checking."
We've seen this before. After every major terror attack, the same playbook: blame Israel, blame the Jews, claim it's a false flag. It happened after 9/11. It happened after attacks in Paris, in Brussels, in Manchester. And it's happening again. The question is: how long will we pretend this is just a few bad apples? How long will we let social media companies profit from the spread of antisemitic hate while claiming to be fighting it? And how many more attacks will it take before the world recognizes that radical Islamic terrorism is the threat — not the Jewish state fighting it?
Accountability starts with naming the problem. The problem is antisemitism, and it's being mainstreamed in real time. Patriots, it's time to call it out.
