RE: FYI: Israeli Airport Security measures -- MIDRANGE-NONTECH

Israel's political situation has required this level of caution, and now the
US is facing the same concerns.  In this age of $99 SouthWest Internet
Specials American consumer expectations are going to be at odds with
reality.  Every American has a God-given right to carry on his or her
monster duffle, 3-suiter, oversized laptop case, loose shopping bag,
backpack or guitar case (pick any two) even though our excessive carry-on
luggage is impossible to efficiently or effectively screen.

Even in the wake of this week's horrible tragedies I'm sure consumers will
be indignant about the idea of waiting on line for hours to have their
luggage picked through.  Every flight I've ever taken had at least one
passenger who arrived three minutes before departure and expected a flight
attendant to help him or her find an overhead (or bitched because bags were
checked at the gate).  Last year our local paper ran an editorial column by
some jerk who thought that SouthWest's rarely enforced "Don't be a Bin Hog"
signs were rude and unfair.

As tighter airport security measures are taken (and I pray that they are) be
prepared for the aggravated and abusive travelers who can't deal with the
burden of invasive time-consuming procedures.  Folks are quite accustomed to
abusing the slight measures we currently have.  I recommend that every
security guard and flight attendant forever carry pictures from Tuesday to
display as reminders.  Unless you mount those pictures on a two-by-four and
beat them with it I don't think many passengers will associate their
behavior and expectations with the risks they present.

Prepare yourself for some of the changes to come by:

* Traveling light, especially within carry-ons.
* Checking luggage <gasp!>
* Arriving well ahead of your departure time
* Planning reasonably timed connections
* Becoming patient and cooperative

We live in a society that thinks it can behave the same way in a movie
theater as we do in our living rooms, and move as freely in an out of an
airplane as we do in our cars.  If you haven't ever been through Israel's
airport security reread Al Mac's article and compare to your last airport
experience.  In the light of Tuesday's hijackings I pray for airport and
flight security reform.  I also pray that we're willing to cooperate and
accept that reform.

Besides, it will open up a whole new era of air travel jokes for comedians
whose flying shtick was running dry.

-Jim



-----Original Message-----
From: MacWheel99@aol.com [mailto:MacWheel99@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 12:35 PM
To: midrange-nontech@midrange.com
Subject: Fwd: FYI: Israeli Airport Security measures


--


MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)


--
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 09:40:30 -0400
From: "Christopher Weuve" <weuvec@cna.org>
To: nsdmg-news@nsdmg.org
Subject: FYI: Security measures
Sender: nsdmg-news-request@nsdmg.com

------ Forwarded Message

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/09/13/israel.aviation.ap/index.html

Experts: Israeli-style security could have averted hijackings

September 13, 2001 Posted: 3:10 AM EDT (0710 GMT)

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's tough airline security methods _
pistol-packing in-flight guards, grilling of passengers, rifling through
luggage, -- have helped thwart terrorist attacks in the past.

Israeli experts said Wednesday that, had they been used in the United
States,
they might have prevented Tuesday's horrific airborne attacks in New York
and
Washington.

But some would have proved difficult to implement in the U.S., and others --
like profiling -- would not meet the test of the U.S. Constitution.

Security on Israel's national airline carrier, El Al, begins long before
takeoff. Every passenger is checked through Interpol for a criminal record
before the flight, said Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror, a
former airline security guard.

At Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, cars are examined as they
enter
the airport compound by uniformed guards armed with mini-Uzi submachine
guns.
Plainclothes security guards, wearing the standard loose-fitting jackets
that
cover bulging weapons holsters, patrol the airport building and entrances.

Bomb scares, often triggered by careless travelers briefly leaving pieces of
luggage out of sight, occur frequently.

On Wednesday, Israeli TV broadcast an airport bomb scare live, showing
police
directing people out of the terminal. It lasted less than a minute.

El Al terminals overseas are guarded by armed Israeli security personnel,
and
security checks are just as strict as in Israel.

All passengers undergo some form of questioning during check-in. Most are
questioned briefly and continue. Others have all the contents of their
luggage
-- to the smallest toothpaste tube _ examined.

By questioning passengers, guards can quickly spot those who appear nervous,
said Leo Gleser, a former El Al security officer and head of ISDS, a
security
consulting firm.

In Israel, profiling means Arabs and certain foreigners are singled out for
intense grilling, while most Israeli Jews quickly proceed to check-in.
Israeli
officials would not talk about profile parameters.

Gleser said profiling was necessary. If all the hundreds of passengers
boarding an airliner were questioned in depth, that plane would never get
off
the ground because it would take too much time.

In the case of Tuesday's hijackers, "not all of them would have made it onto
the plane" if the Israeli approach to security had been used, Gleser said.
"If
you detect one, you can start to ask questions" that might lead to the other
members of the group.

During check-in, high-tech explosives detection equipment is then used to
examine all luggage, said a former El Al security chief, Tuvia Livneh. In
1986, security guards detected a bomb planted in the luggage of a pregnant
Irish woman by her Palestinian boyfriend, without her knowledge.

In the United States, passengers must pass through metal detectors and their
carry-on baggage is screened in an x-ray machine. In recent year s a lot of
effort has gone into developing machines that can sniff out explosives, and
sophisticated passenger scanning devices, but they are not in use yet on a
regular basis.

When baggage is checked people are asked simply if it has been in their
possession at all times and if anyone has asked them to carry anything on
the
plane for them.

El Al is probably the only airline that places all its cargo in
decompression
chambers before takeoff, Livneh said. At least 10 planes have been blown up
with explosives set off by a barometric fuse, sensitive to altitude, he
said.

The last lines of defense are armed, undercover guards seated on the plane,
he
said.

In 1970, a Palestinian hijacker was killed and another, Leila Khaled, was
captured when their hijacking attempt was foiled by an armed guard during an
El Al flight.

And even if all the measures fail, a hijacker still "could not get into the
cockpitof an Israeli plane," said Neri Yarkoni, former head of Israeli Civil
Aviation Administration and a pilot himself. The cockpit door is locked as
soon as the pilot enters, he said, an anti-hijack procedure that has been
used
for decades.

El Al also uses other "technological means" in order to protect its flights,
Livneh confirmed, although he refused to elaborate.

Livneh, whose company, Sital International, advises a number of airports and
airlines on security matters, said budget constraints often limit
anti-terror
operations. He described the security situation in airports outside Israel
as
"very bad."

"It's a pity it takes a lesson like this to happen to teach them to boost
security," he said.

Yarkoni said crucial mistakes were made Tuesday in the United States. The
first two planes which hit the World Trade Center may have surprised the
authorities, but he said the third plane should have been found and shot
down
before crashing into the Pentagon 45 minutes later.

Israeli warplanes would have been airborne within minutes, he said, while it
took the U.S. air force an hour to launch its fighters. "We live in a
different reality," he explained. "Here, this is routine."


------ End of Forwarded Message



==================================
Christopher Weuve [weuvec@cna.org]
Sr. Research Specialist
Center for Naval Analyses
4825 Mark Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22311
703-824-2406 voice
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