Judgment call! I have never flown on an Israeli carrier or to Israel, but from what I have read, their screening personnel are trained to exercise judgment. Bart, your example of the cane is dead on as an example of what is wrong with TSA. The mindset on risk avoidance, the blinders as to the person and concurrent obsession with things, manifested as shoe carnival, confiscation of grooming scissors, lighters, etc., is why so many look at TSA as a dog and pony show. Congress bought into the current mindset institutionalized to a large degree by the 9/11 Commission report.