Israel has the best airport security in the world. Its approach was developed after an attack by three Japanese students in 1972. They arrived at the Lod Airport on Air France from Paris. Dressed in business suits, they carried musical instrument cases with semi-automatic machine guns inside of them. They killed 26 people and wounded 80.
In 2001, before shoe-bomber Richard Reid tried to blow up a passenger plane over the Atlantic, he was sent to Israel by Al Qaeda to test its security. His answers to the screener's questions before his return flight got him tagged as suspicious. He was searched and an armed, plain-clothes air marshal was assigned to the seat next to him.
People complain that the screening questions are intrusive but they work in a situation where something has to work.
Every passenger going through Ben-Gurion Airport undergoes questioning. Screeners ask a multitude of questions fitted to each individual. The questions allow screeners to assess behaviour patterns. The screeners learn exactly what to look for and how to rate a passenger as a possible threat. The more suspicious a passenger, the more intensively screened that person will be - Fifth Estate, CBC
Hat Tip, The Contentious Centrist
