ppp909

Don't use that expression. You're better than that :-)

I do base this on my own personal experience. I've arrived alone and with colleagues both more than 3 hours ahead (based on nervousness of missing flight by various people). Arriving early, they chose to ask us a lot of questions about our passports, even before they let us through. As for the extra security measures, I've been flagged sometimes, and other times I've gone straight through. There are also a number of additional security queues, and the one you get is determined by the sticker they put on your passport. Different queues go at different speeds as far as I can tell. They do also make a point of asking at the security queue when your flight is, and looking at your boarding passes. They let people jump the queue if the extra security is going to make them miss the flight. They don't get to skip the security though.

By your reckoning I've been judged both low and high risk on a number of occasions. Same person, same passport. The only correlation is the times I've been flagged for extra security is when I've had more time to spare.
Of course, they're not going to do it entirely based on time, as that would defeat the point of the added security. But they will also not want people lingering around having missed a plane. After all they're trying to promote the place as a tourist destination.

Personally I can't stand TLV. I wouldn't mind the extra security if the airport was a great place to be once you're through. But it isn't.

orbitmic

Sorry the "fake news" bit was merely an attempt at humour, not anything more sinister and certainly nothing that was intended to offend, apologies if it did.

However, I really do think that you are mistaken. I've been to Israel countless times and often with others. We've sometimes arrived hours before the flight and sometimes very late. By now I think I can predict very accurately who will get what number under what circumstances and the time and procedure based on the number in question with even more accuracy.

From the example above, it seems that you are now saying that the time when you arrive is actually an element that partly determines the assessed risk level (rather than the amount of questioning for a given risk level). I just do not think that this is correct. I obviously cannot tell you why you got different numbers on different occasions as I do not know you and do not know your trips, but whilst the time when you arrive may be the only variable you observed that seemed to correlate, in all likelihood there were others that you may not have noticed or been aware of but which explain those differences (there is also, of course, an interviewer element at play especially between 2-3-4 I would say).

On your last point, I can confirm that the security interviewers have absolutely no issue making you miss your plane if they have not been satisfied that you present no danger, I have seen it happen multiple times (just the same way emigration officials in other countries will have absolutely no qualm making you miss your plane, different services but exact same prioritisation).

safari ari

If you want a more thorough breakdown of the security, have a look at the leaked CIA dossier for going through TLV security, the entire leaked manual is actually a fun thing to read.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/leaked...rion-security/