Travelers at Israeli Airport Scrutinized

Israel prides itself on its security measures--”bitahon,” security, is the first Hebrew word many foreigners learn--and the airport is a prime example.

Travelers leaving Israel through Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv are routinely subjected to strenuous questioning if they are not Jewish Israelis. All travelers meet a security agent before checking in. The agent determines whether the person is Jewish, usually by verifying the name and determining whether the person speaks Hebrew.

Non-Jews get special attention. Travelers who are Arabs, even if they are citizens of Israel, usually are asked numerous questions about what they do in Israel and where they are going. Foreigners, including those who have legal residency in Israel, are similarly made to prove where they live and what they do, and to name people they know in Israel.

The questioning can be rigorous and aggravating because it is repetitive and delves into subjects that normally would not be within the purview of an airport security agent. Government sources say the real purpose is to observe body language and other reactions of the traveler, to determine whether he or she becomes nervous or uneasy.

Israeli security agents defend the profiling system, pointing to an incident years ago when a European woman was duped into carrying onto a flight a bomb that had been planted by her Palestinian boyfriend. The bomb was detected before it exploded. Ever since, women traveling alone are subjected to intense scrutiny.

The airport was the scene of a terrorist attack in 1972. Pro-Palestinian Japanese militants took a Belgian airliner hostage. Ehud Barak, who would later become prime minister, led the rescue operation. Twenty-six people were killed.

Travelers who raise suspicions can be taken to a side room, off the main lobby of Ben Gurion, where every item of their luggage is examined. It is not unusual for agents to unzip cosmetic bags, open vials of lotion and finger every piece of underwear during the search.

Other, more routine examinations include an X-ray check of luggage before it is checked in, one passport check at the ticket counter, another passport check before ascending to the departure area, examination at the immigration counter and another X-ray check upon entering the departure lounge. The airport generally is swarming with security agents.

Arab taxi drivers often are taken aside for questioning, and security agents mark the passports of the driver’s passengers.

Curiously, the examination upon leaving Israel is more strenuous than upon arriving. Again, Arabs arriving are given the most intense questioning. For others, it is largely routine.

However, Israeli security guards in other cities often will check on passengers bound for Tel Aviv. For example, a woman traveling alone from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv must tell agents where she intends to stay and whom she knows. Whoever she names is likely to be telephoned by Israeli security for verification.