Benyamin Netanyahu is trying to rebuild his image as Israel's protector, which has been damaged by recent revelations about his failure to heed warnings before the October 7, 2023 massacre. As the October 27 elections approach, Netanyahu is using the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight on September 30—carrying 170 passengers, most of them Israelis—to reinforce his image as a leader who can safeguard the country. The flight was eventually diverted to a Saudi airport, and a second flight later transported the passengers to Tel Aviv. Netanyahu had released a video warning Israelis that external threats were growing as the elections approached. His political opponents initially criticized these statements as an attempt to shift public attention to security issues and distract from his role in the failures that allowed the Hamas attack on October 7. However, the events on the Flydubai flight appear to have validated his warnings. Despite this, Netanyahu continues to deny responsibility for the attack and has resisted calls for an independent national inquiry into the security failures that allowed it to happen. He has also tried, without success, to form a more favorable commission to investigate the events. Recent reports suggest that Netanyahu and Israeli security services had received clear warnings from high-ranking Arab officials and foreign leaders in the days before the attack. These included the head of Egypt's intelligence services and Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the United Arab Emirates. A recent book also claims that Netanyahu received a direct warning from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader believed to have planned the attack, but that he and his security officials misinterpreted the warning as a demand for economic concessions to the Palestinians. Israeli officials were influenced by what is known in Israel as the conceptzia—a set of assumptions about enemy capabilities and intentions that has historically led to intelligence failures. This mindset, rooted in past conflicts, led many, including Netanyahu, to believe that Qatari financial aid to Hamas would lead to peace. Starting in 2018, Netanyahu approved the transfer of millions of dollars from Qatar to Gaza. According to Israeli intelligence, much of this money was used to strengthen Hamas's military infrastructure rather than aid civilians. At the upcoming elections, Netanyahu faces a broad opposition bloc known as "ABBA" (Anyone But Bibi Again), led by the Yashar! party under Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose son died in the Gaza war. Polls suggest Yashar! could become the leading party, but forming a coalition might be difficult. Eisenkot's alliance includes right-wing, left-wing, and centrist parties with little in common except their opposition to Netanyahu. A similar coalition collapsed in 2022 under Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. The outcome of the elections could also hinge on smaller parties needing to cross an electoral threshold to enter the Knesset. If voters shift to parties that fail to meet this threshold, the result could be unpredictable. Recent polls have shown a narrowing gap between supporters and opponents of Netanyahu, particularly as they do not fully account for Arab parties or the center-right Hendel/Zelekha party, which may also struggle to meet the threshold. A few days before the elections, Israelis will mark the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, which claimed nearly 1,200 lives, took 250 people hostage, and left entire neighborhoods destroyed. The subsequent war in Gaza has killed over 70,000 Palestinians and displaced 1.2 million people. The memory of October 7 is central to the election campaign, with many candidates close to victims or injured soldiers. Young voters, who will vote for the first time, have shifted their views toward the right. Many Israelis fear another political stalemate as the country seeks a leader capable of ensuring security amid growing criticism of the Gaza war, rising antisemitism, and incidents like the Flydubai hijacking. Netanyahu will try to position himself as that leader, but so will his opponents.