Originally Posted by mikeef

Situation: We are a couple of Jewish American 30-somethings. My wife speaks Hebrew, lived for a year on a Kibbutz and has several relatives in Israel. I can read Hebrew (with the vowels) and know five words (mother, father, cat, dog, pencil) as well as an operative phrase or two that I picked up as a teenager and would be censored by FT.

We arrived at TLV at about 4 pm for a 7:30 pm flight, having been sufficiently scared about how long security took at Tel Aviv. You go through a security checkpoint as soon as you arrive and before you reach the ticket counter. There was a line of about 6 people and two uniformed, private security officers handling the line. When we got to the front, the woman asked us where we had been in Israel, how long we had been there and where we were going. Very professional but friendly, and well-trained. She asked if we had friends or relatives in the area, and my wife replied that she did. More questions: Where do they live? What are their names? How often have you been to Israel? Do you speak Hebrew? My wife and the security officer then chatted in Hebrew for a minute, no doubt discussing my devastating good looks and keen intellect. Then a few more questions: Do you have a place you go for the holidays in the states? What is the name of the synagogue? After being satisfied with my wife's answers, she turned to me. She clearly noticed that I hadn't understood their conversation and asked if I spoke any Hebrew. Where did I learn it, in Hebrew school? And then we were done. From the minute we stepped in line until the end of the process, about 10 minutes.

After our first stop, we headed to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes. This step was the longest part of our process, with only a few people in line in front of us, but 100 key strokes by the agent to get anything done. Another 10-15 minutes.

After getting our boarding passes, we went through passport control. Tap tap tap of our passport numbers into the computer. They centered on my wife. Were we married? What was her maiden name? What was her father's name. Tap tap tap. Okay, move on. 5 minutes.

Finally, we went through the actual security and WTMD process. No liquids out. No shoes off. I don't remember what happened with my wife's laptop, but I think she had to take it out. The security officers observed the whole process with a sort of casual indifference, or at least that's how it appeared. Belts did come off. Anyone who beeped the metal detector got one more try and then got a quick wanding. There were several lanes open and we made it through in a few minutes.

And then we were done.

So would I trade in our system for the Israeli system? Tough question. I would absolutely love to see our personnel get the training and leadership that the Israeli group had, focusing on real security. But we simply don't have the same risks that Israel does, and there is no way that we could have a system where a "quick" through the screening process was 30 minutes. Bottom line: there's a lot we can learn, but probably more than we need.

Mike

Originally Posted by PTravel

I understand the concern about ethnic profiling, particularly in the context of non-trained "professionals" like our own TSA, but I can see why Israeli security people would be less concerned with a couple of middle-aged, Hebrew-speaking American Jews than a young man who might fit the profile of someone of concern.