PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - 'Israelification' of Airports: High Security, Little Bother
Old 3rd Jan 2010, 10:04
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Capot
 
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With experience of multiple trips to Gaza via Tel Aviv and vice versa, may I advise people not to think for one moment that the Israeli process is (a) no bother, or (b) done by intelligent people.

As an elderly Caucasian consultant, I was routinely pulled over on departure for a fatuous interrogation by an idiot, but only if the word Gaza was mentioned. And please, please don't tell me that I just didn't realise that this is part of the process and that the interviewer was not really stupid, but a skilled intelligence officer. I can tell the difference.

The same process happens on arrival at Tel Aviv, if you are travelling in that direction. Immigration gives your passport to a team of teenage cretins, who usher you off to a quiet spot.

TC1; "Why do you want to go to Gaza?" "It's in my contract."

TC2; "Where will you live?" "At the Beach."

TC3; "Who will you meet?" "Ali bin Falaan and his brother Ahmad".

All TCs write down this rubbish carefully in their exercise books.

The Israeli system is a huge amount of hassle, and achieves little. You may argue that the result is no successful attempts on Israeli aircraft or indeed on other aircraft operating to/from Israel. But that's the same fallacious argument as the one about elephant powder.

The best defence that El Al has is that an El Al aircraft is not a particularly significant target in terms of the impact on the West of knocking one out of the sky. Some superficial hand-wringing for a day or two, maybe, but little more. That's why there are very few or no attempts, successful or otherwise.
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