I Know you posted this message some time ago but if your still interested here are the answers to your questions

1. El Al has plain clothed armed guards on all flights.?

>>Yes they do, On small bodied aircraft (737,757) they have 1-2 depending on the length of the flight. On wide bodied aircraft (767, 777, 747) they have between 3-5 and they are plained clothed.

2. El Al carries their own x-ray machine on the plane and uses it in foreign countries.

>> The answer is NO. But after you check-in and your bags go through the check-in desk they are removed from the conveyor behind the scenes and put through a secondary x-ray scanning machine, to take a closer look at the bags, Hence the 3 hour check-in period mandatory on all ELAL flights.

3. El Al does not announce departure or arrival gates. (How would that work?!)

>>Not true, i'm not sure where you heard this from.

4. El Al flights make unscheduled stops on a regular basis. (Is this true? Would it affect security?)

>> Never, and for that exact reason. They would not be able to because of the security issue.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Go visit www.elal.com to take a closer look at the airline and its security.

NB: the recent WTC problems that actioned the new regulations for the FAA to introduce the new security charter was taken from the ELAL security Charter..if a little skimmed down not to give too much away.