The security checks at Ben Gurion, Israel's main international airport near Tel Aviv, are intense. But they are surprisingly discreet. There are no groups of armed police patrolling through the concourses (though if necessary, of course, they will appear very rapidly). The new intrusive body scanners that reveal naked bodies beneath clothing - recently introduced in America amid passenger resentment - are not in use. Instead, Ben Gurion's critical line of defence consists of polite, highly trained agents, most of them women. Fluent in several languages, they will speak to every passenger while they wait to drop their luggage or check in. 'We operate on the principle that it's much more effective to detect the would-be terrorist than try to find his bomb,' says a senior Israeli official. 'The 9/11 hijackers killed 3,000 people without real weapons or explosives. To be safe, you have to be able to stop the person who has hostile intentions. That's how our system works.' The Israelis call this method 'behaviour pattern analysis', and it starts beyond the airport: the passenger who pays cash for a one-way ticket at an airline office will be more likely to attract attention than someone who uses a credit card to purchase a return over the internet. Its first physical layer lies more than a mile from the terminal: a checkpoint for every vehicle on the only airport access road. But the system's most crucial element is those polite young agents - the 'selectors'. In most cases, their questions won't take long, and those who pass their examination will soon be en route to their gate. Sometimes, however, the selectors' suspicions will be aroused: perhaps by a traveller who seems unaccountably nervous, or by someone who says he came to Israel for the sightseeing, but can't recall what he saw. That passenger will then face more probing questions from selectors while his baggage is thoroughly searched. If he still can't provide satisfactory answers, he will be detained in a private room and interrogated by seasoned investigators....Read More...Sunday 12 December 2010
'Are you a terrorist?' The simple question being asked at an airport which could rumble a suicide bomber
The security checks at Ben Gurion, Israel's main international airport near Tel Aviv, are intense. But they are surprisingly discreet. There are no groups of armed police patrolling through the concourses (though if necessary, of course, they will appear very rapidly). The new intrusive body scanners that reveal naked bodies beneath clothing - recently introduced in America amid passenger resentment - are not in use. Instead, Ben Gurion's critical line of defence consists of polite, highly trained agents, most of them women. Fluent in several languages, they will speak to every passenger while they wait to drop their luggage or check in. 'We operate on the principle that it's much more effective to detect the would-be terrorist than try to find his bomb,' says a senior Israeli official. 'The 9/11 hijackers killed 3,000 people without real weapons or explosives. To be safe, you have to be able to stop the person who has hostile intentions. That's how our system works.' The Israelis call this method 'behaviour pattern analysis', and it starts beyond the airport: the passenger who pays cash for a one-way ticket at an airline office will be more likely to attract attention than someone who uses a credit card to purchase a return over the internet. Its first physical layer lies more than a mile from the terminal: a checkpoint for every vehicle on the only airport access road. But the system's most crucial element is those polite young agents - the 'selectors'. In most cases, their questions won't take long, and those who pass their examination will soon be en route to their gate. Sometimes, however, the selectors' suspicions will be aroused: perhaps by a traveller who seems unaccountably nervous, or by someone who says he came to Israel for the sightseeing, but can't recall what he saw. That passenger will then face more probing questions from selectors while his baggage is thoroughly searched. If he still can't provide satisfactory answers, he will be detained in a private room and interrogated by seasoned investigators....Read More...