LAX Hires Israeli Government's Shin Bet to Review Security At Bradley International Terminal

One good thing about having a blog is that you can use it to discuss stories that you normally can’t cover.  I received an article from YnetNews.com reporting that LAX had hired Shin Bet security experts at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport  to look at its security and make recommendations.  Shin Bet is Israel’s Internal General Security Service, and we all know that Israel gets high marks for airport security.

Interesting story, huh?  I thought it would be a good read for Airports, so I e-mailed our good friend Tom Winfrey of Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA) media relations and asked to do a story about it.  Winfrey replied quickly, e-mailing me back and saying the airport does not discuss security arrangements and declined further comment.  I understand his position -- up to a point.  I thought I was smart enough not to ask specific security questions, knowing that airports can’t talk about such things in our post-9/11 world.

My questions were more along the lines of why LAX asked Shin Bet to review its security, the number of recommendations (without asking for specifics) the agency made, the cost to hire Shin Bet and when its recommendations would be put into effect.  Seemed harmless to me, but no story.

So according to the article, the Shin Bet representatives patrolled the airport and held meetings with their LAX security counterparts to discuss what could be done as LAX undergoes a $575 million upgrade at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. 

The article quotes the president of the Los Angeles Airport Board of Airport Commissioners, Alan Rothenberg, as saying that the Israelis had at least six suggestions to improve security, some of which were relatively easy to carry out, and others that necessitate sophisticated technological developments.

After reading the article, it made me wonder why it was OK for the president of the airport’s board to speak to an Israeli online publication about security issues at LAX, but not speak to a trade reporter in the United States that specifically covers airports and security.  I found the article informative, but there was no real information that would have qualified as revealing security secrets. 

Ten years ago, I wouldn't have even had access to the YnetNews.com article.  But the Internet has made this a very small world, and with search engines like Yahoo! and Google that can feed news from all over the world, there's not much that can be kept secret anymore.  It’s too bad that I didn’t have the same access as the Israeli reporter.

Comments

[DeWayne Benson]

I didn't see an author name on this article, but it was obvious a piece to inform Americans about inroads the Israeli Mossad and IDS among hundreds of other agencies who are now making wormwood of American infrastructure and government.
Keep up the good work, while the US government represents us at least some part of the time.

[sharpinchitown]

What's the point of national borders? Could someone remind me again? I keep forgetting, what with all the complete and total trust of other nations, especially highly nationalist ones like Israel, who has attacked our very own ships in the past, and deliberately. Also, she's number one when it comes to false flag operations, even attacking her own when it suits political goals.

[sharpinchitown]

What's the point of national borders? Could someone remind me again? I keep forgetting, what with all the complete and total trust of other nations, especially highly nationalist ones like Israel, who has attacked our very own ships in the past, and deliberately. Also, she's number one when it comes to false flag operations, even attacking her own when it suits political goals.