How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Forget the porn machines, Michael Totten suggests. Use some common sense instead. It works for the Israelis.
They are, out of dreadful necessity, the world's foremost experts in counterterrorism. And they couldn't care less about what your grandmother brings on a plane. Instead, officials at Ben Gurion International Airport interview everyone in line before they're even allowed to check in.
And Israeli officials profile. They don't profile racially, but they profile. Israeli Arabs breeze through rather quickly, but thanks to the dozens of dubious-looking stamps in my passport -- almost half are from Lebanon and Iraq -- I get pulled off to the side for more questioning every time. And I'm a white, nominally Christian American.
If they pull you aside, you had better tell them the truth. They'll ask you so many wildly unpredictable questions so quickly, you couldn't possibly invent a fake story and keep it all straight. Don't even try. They're highly trained and experienced, and they catch everyone who tries to pull something over on them.
Quite so: When I last flew El Al, they began with simple questions: Why are you flying to Israel? To give a lecture? Where? Who invited you? Really? Do you have a copy of the invitation? How do you know them? Really? And you don't speak Hebrew? None? Why not? You didn't learn any in school? Why not? It went on for quite some time. Somehow I ended up telling them where exactly I'd gone to kindergarten. That's not one of those details that would be easy to manufacture on the spot.
The impression I had above all was that they were really paying attention to what I said. They weren't rude. But I had no doubt they were thinking very closely about whether the details added up.
I flew El Al once when I was about eighteen. They asked me whether I was carrying any lethal weapons. "My wit," I said. They let me on the plane right away, no further questions. Yeah, sure, they profiled me: "Smartass teenage Jew off on her first big foreign adventure away from her family."
That sort of kid doesn't blow up planes. She just ruins the kibbutz.
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Jul '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
I felt incredibly safe flying into and out of Israel but I'm not sure this would work in the U.S. because (and this is a generalization and a terrible one, I know) most TSA agents are not this competent or energetic about their jobs. It's a big country, these are largely middle-class jobs that can be obtained with mininal educational requirements, and you're not going to find (for the most part) people who are capable of both asking those questions and processing the answers accurately enough to prevent threats. That's just my opinion, I could totally be wrong, and I wish I was but...I've flown a lot lately, and I don't want any of the people who handled my security screenings making judgements based primarily on their ability to discern a lie.
Sep '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
The article in the 2009 issue of the Toronto Star that someone linked to went further. The Israelis aren't dumb enough, for example, to evacuate a major airport based on one suspicious package but have a series of blast shields and bomb resistant casings that limit the amount of space they have to evacuate quickly. Based on the rumblings, I think many airports are going to begin to contract out their security and punt the groin grabbing Post Office wannabes from the TSA.
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Well, yes. That's the problem. I say we find competent, energetic employees. Anyone with me?
Sep '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Well, yes. That's the problem. I say we find competent, energetic employees. Anyone with me? · Nov 19 at 8:35am
All Federal bureaucracies end up with 80% of their costs as wages and salaries, usually unionized. Does anyone believe that teacher quality would go up in your local school if they were part of a Federal Teachers Association? I don't think so. Breaking the TSA stranglehold on airport security is step one.
Aug '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Israel isn't the only place where this happens, Schipol does it. Maybe the problem is that the young people who do this in Amsterdam all appear smart and efficient. That doesn't quite fit the TSA profile in the states.
Most of the TSA people I see appear to have just graduated from municipal bus driving. Maybe the point is to replicate that municipal bus experience in airports across America.
Affirmative greyhound experience for everyone !
Humiliation, inefficiency, and wasted time and money . The hallmarks of government decision making.
But they're just trying to help make us safer.............
(I bet "ruin the kibbutz" got you your own room ?)
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Claire, your post highlights the essential difference between air security in Israel and the US: El Al keeps dangerous people off of its planes, while the US is intent on preventing dangerous objects from getting on board. Apparently, it would be rude and potentially discriminatory to assess a person's intent--might hurt somebody's feelings. So, in the interest of "fairness" we now probe genitalia by the numbers. Sure, it might be a low-grade sexual assault, but nobody profiled you, so get over it.
Edited on Nov 19, 2010 at 9:44amMay '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Well, yes. That's the problem. I say we find competent, energetic employees. Anyone with me? · Nov 19 at 8:35am
I think if you gave the FBI the job they could get it done. The process would be far more serious and more efficient and you would see none of the stupid behavior where the TSA agent flirt with each other or trash talk or treat their job as anything other than terribly important.
Jun '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Claire, we need to talk. It's this ruining of the kibbutz you've been doing. It really is an international tragedy. If Israel were a purely socialist country with kibbutzes coming out the ying-yang the country would be the darling of the international left. But, noooooo, thanks to Thatcherite poisons spread by sickos such as you, Israel has become a free market powerhouse and perforce an international pariah to the left.
Aug '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
We MUST come around to the Israeli point of view. And we must fight the premise that we don't have intelligent and savvy people enough to do the job. This is America, dammit!
May '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
As noted above, while I'd certainly prefer to see this approach in the U.S., the sheer number of airports and volume of air travel here is a serious practical impediment. Highly trained investigators are rare and expensive, even moreso given that the government is doing the hiring. If there were private firms in the game, it might be a different story, but now that TSA is apparently going union, I'm afraid we can look forward to minimally-trained government-employee screeners--with nice, big union dues being automatically deducted every two weeks--for a long time to come.
May '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
In order to provide a good point of comparison, here's an example of how the fine American security personnel handle things.
Sep '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
The Toenail Security Agency strikes again.
Aug '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
great groin grabbing imagery there Psue ! from Post Office wannabes to former bus drivers, we see the same level of mediocrity just itching for it's own union. If they're giving Sweeney a Presidential Medal today, just think - someday somewhere some lowly p**kerchecker dreaming of a wider stance just might be a future shop steward in O'Hare- king of the lowhanging fruit so to speak. And in the future, maybe he'll win the Presidential Medal for "Auspicious Suspicious".
Edited on Nov 19, 2010 at 2:24pmJul '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
I totally agree with Trace (as I often do, even if I don't always say so) about the FBI. There's been SO much discussion about this subject this week, not just here but everywhere. I feel a revolt building and even though I could see plenty of ways for prominent Democrats to join or lead it...they all seem strangely quiet. And will likely feel blindsided if this leads to further Republican gains...
Jul '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
I totally agree with Trace (as I often do, even if I don't always say so) about the FBI. There's been SO much discussion about this subject this week, not just here but everywhere. I feel a revolt building and even though I could see plenty of ways for prominent Democrats to join or lead it...they all seem strangely quiet. And will likely feel blindsided if this leads to further Republican gains...
May '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Well, yes. That's the problem. I say we find competent, energetic employees. Anyone with me? · Nov 19 at 8:35am
Ah yes, well you see the X-ray scanner is actually a modified design based on the "GovMint EmpoScan 1000." How it works is all new hires are run through the g-ray scanner. The g-rays remove all trace of competence and energy. So even if such persons could be located, their new-hire orientation would immediately turn them into time-serving, bumf-shuffling, perineum-patting drones.
Jul '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
It's not the government's responsibility for the safety of Citizens' traveling.
If it were I'd expect an escort every time I leave the house.
Airplane security is airline responsibility.
May '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Didn't President Carter makes it illegal to ask people about their qualifications when hiring federal employees?
Aug '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
That 's figurative question isn't it ? Because we sure didn't ask Carter.
Oct '10
Re: How the Israelis Keep Their Planes From Blowing Up
Terrorists have greater rights than drug smugglers. The government has been profiling drug smugglers for years and the Supreme Court has approved it. The problem with America is we are told profiling is bad and we believe it. It is not the employee; it is the software. Take the database of airline travelers Intra and IN/Out of the US and create a profile of each flier you already know about for the last ten years. Get known profiles form Israel, UK, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and the data from the US and create and update profiles of interest. This can be done for $100M. I created a similar one for a bit less about 5 years ago.
Create a Global Entry Program Domestically for all travelers. Not in the system - - retired WWII 87 year old Veteran from KC, KS is not a likely terrorist versus a "student" that bounces around a lot and travels to areas around the globe that would be of interest - London, the Middle East, Indonesia, Southwest Asia or the Philippines. At some point an "Analyst" looks at the data. Also, interviews like in Israel
It is also just a big CYA program at TSA.