On 29 Kislev, WikiLeaks released two classified documents by a previously undisclosed CIA office detailing how to maintain cover while travelling through airports using false ID – including during operations to infiltrate the European Union and the Schengen passport control system. Among the airports listed is Ben-Gurion International Airport in Israel. The report shows that security in that airport is significantly higher than in most. Following are a number of excerpts from the report released by WikiLeaks.

With the exception of Israel’s Ben-Gurion airport and a few others, immigration inspectors conducting primary screenings generally lack the time and tools to conduct in-depth examination of travelers’ bona fides. EU norms stipulate that passport checks take no longer than 20 seconds per traveler.

Dutch Royal Military Police (KMAR) officers at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam are under instruction to spend no more than 10 seconds evaluating each passport although few officers achieve this speed, according to July 2009 liaison reporting.

Suspicious Signs

Airport inspectors can also refer to secondary screening individuals who arouse suspicion but for whom there is no substantive cause for denying entry. An airport screening procedures manual published for internal use in 2004 by International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS) International, an

Israeli-founded company and world leader in profiling techniques, lists suspicious signs in passenger behavior, documentation, tickets, or baggage. Although dated, the ICTS guidelines probably are typical and remain valid.

Travel Pattern

A travel history that indicates possible association with narcotrafficking, Islamic

extremism, or illegal immigration can prompt a referral to secondary. A review of clandestine reporting reveals examples of what various countries consider to be suspicious. The Chilean Investigative Police (PICH) considers travel originating in East Asia with multiple stops as potentially suspicious. The Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) considers frequent travel to Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau

as suspicious. Israel’s security personnel focus on frequent travel to Islamic countries.

Security personnel at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, commonly refer military-aged males traveling alone with backpacks to secondary screening, regardless of their nationality or skin color.

Inspections can include examining belongings for traces of explosives. At Ben-Gurion airport in Israel, the secondary screening room contains trace-detection equipment for explosive residue; tools for dismantling passengers’ personal items for inspection, particularly items unfamiliar to security officers; and a disrobing area, divided by privacy curtains, to conduct strip searches of individuals, if necessary.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)