Israel’s ambassador to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat, posted a video on Twitter in which he strongly criticized the Portuguese media for failing to give sufficient prominence to the attempted terrorist attack that put nearly 200 people at risk on September 30. During the incident, the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight attempted to bring down the aircraft, an attempt that was thwarted by the passengers themselves. The diplomat rightly compared the episode to the events of October 7, 2023.
“Yesterday was a sad day for the Portuguese media,” Rozenblat said, arguing that the episode should have been the main news story of the day.
Flight FZ1073, which was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the co-pilot attacked the captain with a knife and attempted to take control of the aircraft. Passengers and crew members intervened brilliantly and managed to restrain the terrorist, allowing the plane to land safely. Israeli authorities are treating the episode as an attempted terrorist attack.
Rozenblat highlighted the intervention of the Israeli passengers, crediting them with playing a decisive role in preventing a possible tragedy.
“There were 180 passengers, 27 of them children, and it was the Israeli heroes who stopped this attempted murder,” the ambassador said.
In the same statement, the diplomat drew a parallel between the episode aboard the Flydubai flight and the attacks of October 7, 2023.
“The Portuguese media is not a neutral organization; they are far-left parties against Israel,” Rozenblat said, adding that the events aboard the aircraft reflected a similar dynamic to what Israel faced on October 7.
“What happened the day before yesterday is exactly what happened on October 7, when Arab Muslim terrorists wanted to murder innocent Israelis — and the Israelis had to bravely stop this terrorism,” he said.
The ambassador has closely followed coverage by the Portuguese media and has criticized on his social media accounts the way Portuguese news outlets have covered events in the Middle East.
