In the four days following the thwarted hijacking of a Tel Aviv-bound FlyDubai flight last week, antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming the incident was a “false flag” operation orchestrated by Israel or Jews proliferated on social media, with 285 posts by influential X and Instagram accounts garnering 85.9 million views.
CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) initially tracked 2,963 such posts — that generated at least 30,000 likes and three million views — in the 12-hour period immediately following Wednesday’s incident.
By Saturday, the reach had grown exponentially, boosted by major antisemitic influencers with large follower counts who brought the narrative from the bot-driven fringe into mainstream online discourse.
X proved to be a more hospitable conspiracy theory breeding ground than Instagram, with X posts drawing over twice the views. The X posts averaged 350,975 views each, compared to 229,224 on Instagram, although the Instagram posts did get greater engagement (i.e. likes, comments, and shares).
The most prevalent assertions included: “Mossad did it,” “Bibi needed this,” “Look away from Gaza,” “Israel plays the victim,” “Connect the dots,” and “It was all a show.”
Read the full ARC update HERE.
The original ARC report, “‘False Flag’ Claims Within an Hour: Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Flourish After FlyDubai Terror Attack,” is available HERE.
85.9 million views in four days.
That is how far the “false flag” conspiracy theory blaming Israel for the FlyDubai hijacking attempt spread.
The first post appeared 67 minutes after the attack.
Bots flooded feeds, then influential accounts took it mainstream. https://t.co/MTbTaLFsyg
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) October 5, 2026
“It’s clear this isn’t a narrative that forms in response to an incident,” said CAM Tech Engagement and Digital Threats Research Lead Oliver Marks. “Rather, it’s part of a script that already exists, sitting ready for use whenever opportunities arise.”
The ARC’s original report noted, “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.”
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