Itamar Ben-Gvir
Role at the time: Minister of National Security of Israel and chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party, in a post on X
Statement summary
In a Hebrew-language post on X at 10:53 UTC on September 30, 2026, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir thanked God and the passengers and wrote that the naive notion that Israel's enemies value life had received another reminder that morning in the form of a terrorist. In Newsweek's English rendering, the terrorist "planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board." The post also argued that Israel's security concept must be raised to a higher level and that Israel must continue its military campaigns in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank until they are decisively won.
“planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board”
Ben-Gvir's post in Hebrew, about 47 minutes after Smotrich's post. English renderings from Newsweek and The Guardian are cited as separate sources, and they differ on whether the plane was to be crashed or blown up.
Why we used this label
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. Ben-Gvir described the person responsible as a terrorist who planned to crash the plane and murder the Israelis aboard, which asserts the proposition as established. He cited no evidence for the plan and named no investigating authority. Under this case's reference point, an official asserting the attempt is labeled Condemned (an attributed accusation). The post's larger argument concerns Israel's military campaigns, which this case does not decide.