|
What Israel Can Teach the World About Airport Security
by David Harris
- In Israel, security comes first. It's never an afterthought. It's not
outsourced to the semi-competent. Rather, it's
front-line work that's in the hands of professionals and is well-coordinated and
no-nonsense.
- Israel creates a set of security layers, or circles, around airports - and,
by extension, airplanes.
- Israel understands that you need a security system that
carefully scrutinizes everyone, as you can never tell who might be involved.
- The Israeli system acknowledges that not everyone is equally likely to carry out a terrorist
attack. Some call it profiling, which has become a dirty word to those who think
it conjures up notions of racial, religious, or ethnic targeting. In reality,
it's more sophisticated than simplistic classification.
- At the end of the day, Israel's approach depends as much, if not more, on the
human dimension as it does on sophisticated technology. The writer is executive director of the American Jewish Committee. (Huffington Post)
Foiled Detroit Airport Attack Highlights Israel's Security Success
by Luis Ramirez
- Israel has what security experts say is perhaps the world's most effective system of screening air passengers. This success is due to a sophisticated system that combines intelligence reporting, profiling, and state-of-the-art technology for detecting weapons and explosives.
- Israeli security experts say is an approach that - unlike other countries - relies more on eye contact with passengers and less on technology.
- Narrowing the number of people to scrutinize means agents can clear thousands of passengers more quickly than if every one has to undergo thorough body and luggage searches.
- Some of the scanners and detectors currently being promoted have been developed in Israel. Israeli expert Pini Schiff says they are effective but technology alone cannot do the job. "Profiling and technology together gives you the best result in checking outgoing passengers from the country," he said.
- Israel's system might be in some ways controversial, but it has made for a near-perfect record. (Voice of America)
|
The Costs of Israel-Level Security
by Annie Lowrey
- [At Ben-Gurion Airport I went through] the famed Israeli airport security screening. The guards questioned me for about 20 minutes, politely and
intensely. No shoe removal. No lines. No cramped corners.
- By every available metric, Israel's system works better at
preventing violent attacks. The country, under constant terrorist
threat, hasn't faced a hijacking incident since 1969.
- The system works, Israelis say, because it relies
on the so-called "human factor." Israel attempts to stop dangerous
people before they come anywhere close to an airliner, profiling to
assess each individual's risk.
- The U.S. guards attempt to find and confiscate dangerous things. Thus,
the country spends much less time per person than Israel does, focusing
instead on substances and stuff — hand luggage, bottles of formula,
and, idiotically, shoes.
- Israel spends around 10 times more per passenger than the United
States does. "[An analyst] estimated El Al's security bill at $100
million a year, which amounts to $76.92 per trip by its 1.3 million
passengers.
- The United States, in comparison, spent in 2008 $5.74 billion to
monitor and protect 735,297,000 enplanements, or around $7.80 a
passenger.
- What would it be like if they held themselves to Israel's standards? We'd need 3 million
full-time guards to perform it. It would cost somewhere north of
$150 billion a year. (NPR/Foreign Policy)
Profile Me if You Must
by Michael J. Totten
- I don't want to be profiled at the airport, but our airport security system is
so half-baked and dysfunctional it may as well not even exist. So rather than
doubling down on grandma and micromanaging everyone on the plane, we might want
to pay as much attention to people as to their luggage, especially military-aged
males who make unusual and suspicious-looking travel arrangements. That's what
the Israelis do.
- At Ben-Gurion Airport you don't have to take off your shoes in
the security line and you don't have to stand in front of invasive and expensive
body-scanning machines.
- When I get on a plane in the U.S., I often breeze past women decades older than
me while they're being frisked. Almost every single person in line knows it's
ridiculous. We don't say anything because it feels vaguely "fair." Maybe it is,
but it's no way to catch terrorists. (Commentary)
|