Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
What happened to MH17?
Position‹3 of 3
The MH17 Crash was not related to the conflict in Ukraine
Argument

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orchestrated the MH17 crash

This theory, spawning from Iranian media states that the Israeli prime minister shot down MH17 in order to distract the world from Israel's actions in Gaza.

The argument

rAn Iranian commentator argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have gained the most out of the crash of MH17 because it occured at the same time as israeli conflicts with Palestinians in Gaza. According to James Henry Fetzer, a former professor of the philosophy of science and conspiracy theorist, the Prime Minister of Israel directed the president of Ukraine to target the passenger plane and assisted Ukraine in shooting it down. It is believed that Israel assisted in shooting down MH17 by flying an F-15E plane out of Azerbaijan to join the Ukrainian fighter jet. The motive for the israeli prime minister to take down MH17 would be to draw worldwide attention away from the conflict taking place in Gaza at the time. Fetzer has also proposed that Israel was responsible for the MH370 disappearance that had happened a few years prior. Fetzer speculates that Israel hid the plane, gave it new identification numbers, and flew it over Ukraine.

Premises

[P1]Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had a motive to divert worldwide attention from the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. [P2] Israel had the means to shoot down MH17, allegedly by directing Ukraine and flying an F-15E from Azerbaijan to assist a Ukrainian fighter jet. [P3] The crash of MH17 conveniently coincided with the Gaza conflict and shifted global focus away from it. [C] Therefore, MH17 was orchestrated by Netanyahu rather than being a product of the Ukrainian conflict.

Counter-arguments

Aside from claims that this theory is deeply anti-Semitic, there is also no genuine evidence to support this theory, it is entirely circumstantial. There is no evidence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ever having communication with the president of Ukraine about shooting down MH17. Furthermore, there is evidence disproving that MH17 was shot down by any type of planes, the Dutch led investigation revealed that it was taken down by a Buk missile.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Motive is not evidence, and the counter notes that nothing supports the claim beyond the coincidence of timing — there is no record of any communication between the Israeli prime minister and the Ukrainian president about downing the aircraft. [Rejecting P2] The alleged means are ruled out by the physical findings: the Dutch-led investigation concluded that the aircraft was destroyed by a Buk surface-to-air missile, which excludes the account involving fighter aircraft that the premise depends on. [Rejecting P3] Coincidence in timing establishes nothing about causation, and the counter records that the theory has additionally been identified as anti-Semitic in character, resting on an entirely circumstantial case.