The margin between tragedy and deliverance(获救，解脱) could seldom have been as narrow as on September 30th, when Flydubai flight 1073(迪拜航空1073航班，2026年9月30日遭未遂劫机) plummeted(骤降，暴跌) over 17,000 feet towards the desert in just two minutes. Had Captain Smit Machchhar not fought back long enough to open the cockpit door, after his Omani co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, attacked him with an axe; had the mother of six-year-old Nina Manes not had to take her to the toilet and heard the commotion; had passengers and crew not overpowered Mr Hammami and pulled the Boeing 737 out of its dive; had an off-duty pilot on board not landed the damaged plane.(如果不是机长奋力反抗打开舱门，如果不是母亲带女儿去洗手间听到骚动，如果不是乘客和机组制服袭击者并拉起飞机，如果不是休班飞行员降落受损飞机……) Had all of these not happened, some 180 crew and passengers, mostly Israelis, would have surely died on impact, perhaps killing many on the ground. Instead the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia and the passengers flew on to Tel Aviv, and a heroes’ welcome.
悲剧与获救之间的差距，很少像9月30日那样微乎其微。当天，迪拜航空1073航班在短短两分钟内从高空骤降超过17000英尺，直扑沙漠。如果不是机长斯米特·马奇哈尔在遭到阿曼籍副驾驶哈马姆·哈马米持斧袭击后奋力反抗，坚持到打开驾驶舱门；如果不是六岁女孩妮娜·马内斯的母亲不得不带她去洗手间，因而听到骚动；如果不是乘客和机组人员合力制服了哈马米，将波音737从俯冲中拉起；如果不是机上一位休班飞行员将受损的飞机成功降落——如果这一切都没有发生，机上约180名机组人员和乘客（多为以色列人）必定会在撞击中丧生，还可能在地面造成大量伤亡。然而，飞机最终在沙特阿拉伯紧急降落，乘客随后飞抵特拉维夫，受到英雄般的欢迎。
The distance between political triumph and fiasco(惨败，彻底失败) is just as slim. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s long-serving prime minister and always the showman(擅长作秀的人), was on hand when they landed for a triumphant photograph and was filmed calling the pilot in hospital. He has, however, avoided difficult questions about the near-catastrophe. Why was an apparently radicalised(激进化了的) pilot flying a plane to Tel Aviv? Why did the transport ministry, controlled by an ultra-loyal member of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party, fail in its job of vetting air-crew flying to Israel?(由内塔尼亚胡所属利库德集团一名极度忠诚的成员掌控的交通部，为何未能对飞往以色列的机组人员进行审查？) How did Israel’s intelligence and security services, which answer to(向……负责，受……指挥) the prime minister directly, miss this?
政治胜利与惨败之间的距离同样微乎其微。以色列长期执政的总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡一向擅长作秀，他在乘客落地时到场，拍下胜利合影，还被拍到给医院里的飞行员打电话。然而，他回避了有关这场未遂灾难的尖锐问题：一名显然已激进化的人为何能驾驶飞往特拉维夫的飞机？由内塔尼亚胡所属利库德集团一名极度忠诚的成员掌控的交通部，为何未能对飞往以色列的机组人员进行审查？直接向总理负责的以色列情报和安全部门，又为何漏掉了这一威胁？
The prime minister’s office has offered no answers. But for Mr Netanyahu, the incident has offered a political opportunity. Rather than allow another security failure to reinforce the charges against him when it comes to the October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas, Mr Netanyahu is trying to turn it to his advantage, campaigning once again as Israel’s indispensable protector.(他没有让另一起安全失败加剧外界就哈马斯10月7日袭击以色列一事对他的指控，反而试图将其转化为自己的优势，再次以以色列“不可或缺的保护者”形象展开竞选。)
总理办公室没有给出任何答案。但对内塔尼亚胡而言，这起事件提供了一个政治机会。他没有让另一起安全失败加剧外界就哈马斯10月7日袭击以色列一事对他的指控，反而试图将其转化为自己的优势，再次以以色列“不可或缺的保护者”形象展开竞选。
