With the controversy over TSA airport groping security not likely to die down any time soon, now seems like a good time as ever to see how effective airport security looks.
And here’s some details not mentioned by the above video but by this 60 Minutes report from 2002:
They run every name through. Every person who goes to the airport, they have already checked that name. “The moment that you buy the ticket, we have your name, we have your passport number, and we can check it,” Dror says.
They check you again when you drive to the airport in Tel Aviv. What looks like a tollbooth is actually a security gate. Guards with automatic weapons eyeball everyone. If you drive through too quickly, there’s another guard further down the road. And the rings of security tighten as you arrive.
Before you even enter the terminal, you’ve been through three rings of security. The minute you buy your ticket, your name is sent to Israeli intelligence and to Interpol, so they know quite a bit about you before you even get to the airport.
The second ring is a gate with armed guards inspecting your car.
The third ring: Men with jackets and sweaters, concealing their weapons, who will watch you come in.
Three checks, and you haven’t even entered the terminal yet – which is where the real security begins.
Update: And now for a humorous (and altogether inaccurate) look at Israeli airport security.
