Fwd: FYI: Israeli Airport Security measures

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


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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

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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."


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