Israeli airport security

[SuperDuper! 230]

You are so completely full of shi't it's not even funny.

so whatz not true, Sport? Your logic is the one full of holes.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

so whatz not true, Sport? Your logic is the one full of holes.

See post #15.

[SuperDuper! 230]

See post #15.

SouskDude, now YOU are now drinking Eric's Koolaid. You are better than that.

My best friend recently traveled to Israel in a family group of 9. And his interview at the airport went down just like I said. My friend was asked where he lived, and the topic of temple came up, then the interviewer asked him what temple, and proceeded to exhibit first hand knowledge of THAT temple, and THAT Rabbi there. If my friend had been making sh!t up, the interviewer was skilled enough to know BS when he heard it. And YES, the interviewer asked my friend out of NOWHERE, "So, do you have a bomb?"

No one's interview going thru El Al will be the same. The larger point spelled out is, for the smaller brains who can't grasp it, IS that El Al hires expert interviewers who have intimate knowledge of culture, religion and society, and dialects language (so phony regional accents are a dead giveaway. If you have a regional accent, yet claim you are from somewhere else, you get red flagged, and get a secondary processing.)

What the US needs is El Al security consultants, and recently LAX has hired them.

Cheers and Jeers, readers know what is deserved.

[scandal 951]

My best friend recently traveled to Israel

How nice for him. I hope he had a good time.

I conservatively estimate have traveled through Ben Gurion security not less than 50 times in my life, probably quite a bit more. I mean myself personally, not some acquaintance.

I have traveled as a child, a university student, an adult.

I have traveled during the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2000s.

I have traveled there when I have lived outside the country, in Canada or the US, and entering on a visit.

I have traveled on temporary journeys outbound from Israel for work/pleasure from Natbag (Ben Gurion Airport) while I was living in Israel.

I have traveled there when I was entering the country one-way to make it my home for a substantial period of time (on three separate occasions in 1987, 1997, and 2004 - to be precise).

I have traveled out of there on a one-way exit when I was abandoning it as my home (in 1991, 1999, 2008).

I have traveled through Natbag by myself as a solo traveler (usually on business trips).

I have traveled through Natbag accompanied on various occasions by girlfriend, fiancee, wife, children, brother, mother, work colleagues.

I have traveled on a Canadian or US passport, entering as a tourist or student visa when I was not an Israeli citizen.

I have traveled there after making aliyah and having one of those crappy orange "teudat ma'avar" Israeli travel documents that need to be renewed every 2 years.

I have traveled there on a standard Israeli blue passport.

I have traveled on direct flights to Israel from Montreal, Toronto, LAX, JFK, EWR, LHR, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Athens, Sofia, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan (that I can remember off hand).

I have traveled to/from Israel on El Al, Air Canada, Continental, Alitalia, Air France, Tower Air (defunct thank goodness), SAS, Olympic, British Airways (that I can remember off hand).

I think I've got a pretty decent idea of the kinds of questions the security staff ask a single guy presenting a US passport who lives in the US, speaks English, and travels alone, coz I've been there done that.

And the kind of questions they ask an Israeli family with kids in tow bearing Israeli passports who live in Israel and speak hebrew, coz I've been there and done that.

And pretty much anything else in between.

I've been pulled aside and grilled and had my luggage picked apart.

I've also been let through with a few perfunctory questions and no additional screening.

The worst was the orange teudat maavar. That piece of ####### is more of a flag in their face than a foreign passport or a blue Israeli passport. Not sure why, but it is.

BTW - the screening when you board El Al flights bound for Israel from outside Israel can be much more intensive than inside Israel. Heathrow, in particular, has heavy grilling. In Frankfurt the check in counter is in a separate wing of the airport, all on its lonesome. At LAX it used to be in a main concourse until the shooting a few years ago, and then it got tucked away as well.

The common questions asked always - of everyone, at every check-in whether in Natbag or a foreign airport are:

- Did you pack your own luggage?

- When/where?

- Has it been in your possession since you packed it? If not, describe where it was, who was watching it?

- Where do you live? Where are you traveling? Why?

- Has anyone given you anything to bring? A gift perhaps? Anyone at all? We ask these questions because it's been known that people have been given explosives (chomrei nefetz) wrapped as gifts.

...

- Thank you. From this moment forward until your flight, please do not accept anything from anyone. Have a good trip.

Most of the time, the routine above is all that is asked. I have experienced additional questions tossed in the middle, particularly while on the orange thing. Then they asked about my family in Israel, my kids, stuff that was irrelevant to my trip but it was clear they wanted to see how I handled offbeat questions.

Questions about temples, rabbis, etc. Not a one, never ever.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I'm still amused by the amount of people who are against profiling....

[TBoneTX 46,293]

I think I've got a pretty decent idea of the kinds of questions the security staff ask

And we have a credibility-winner in this thread. Very enlightening stuff, too. Shalom.