[Detroit News] George Bornstein - After a recent overseas trip to Israel and several domestic flights, my wife and I wonder how effective U.S. airport security procedures are. The Israelis became the first victims of Middle Eastern aviation terrorism when an El Al flight from Rome was hijacked in 1968. Strong security measures have prevented a single El Al plane from being seized since, and no commercial airliner leaving Israeli airports has ever been taken over. How does Israel do it? Israeli procedures concentrate more on identifying people who are threats than things that are threats. That makes them more proactive than U.S. protocols, which remain largely reactive. Whereas Transportation Security Administration personnel often chat with one another at checkpoints, Israeli personnel focus consistently on evaluating the passengers. Multiple layers of El Al security began with several rings of armed personnel and progressed to individual interviews by questioners trained to notice body language as well as verbal answers. All 19 terrorists on the Sept. 11 flights were Middle Eastern males in their 20s and 30s. It is not racism or bigotry but common sense to pay special attention to such travelers. As an Israeli acquaintance said, "We Israelis want to stop terrorists, but you Americans want to be politically correct." All El Al flights have reinforced steel doors at the cockpit, and those doors remain locked while any passengers are on the plane. And all Israeli flights carry more sky marshals than American ones. Finally, the Israeli procedures make obvious sense to the public and are carried out with more politeness than we routinely experience in American airports.
2007-07-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive