Originally Posted by littleleaguemom
Hmmm, before we were allowed in the terminal a young lady asked my husband where'd we'd been and he said Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Where did we stay and then they asked if we belonged to a "religious group." Somehow it did not seem a good idea to say MYOB. Did I speak any other languages? Yes, German. Then she waved us through and it could have been any other airport after that.
I know this isn't a security thread, so I'll try not to overdo it with my responses (about a DO that I couldn't even attend...)
I would just mention that you observed something that's critical to the basic method of Israeli-style security, which is concentric circles of defense. It starts at TLV as you drive past the first guards, and goes all of the way until you leave your destination airport if you're flying on EL AL. In addition to the more obvious folks like the one who stopped you, there are security people all over that you might not so easily identify. They're checking trash recepticles, looking under cars, etc. The underlying philosophy is that each circle needs to be unfailingly strong, but that there must also be circles within the circles to catch anything that makes it through.