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Monday 22 December 2014

WikiLeak: CIA Trained Agents To Avoid Security Screening At Ben Gurion Airport

ben-gurion-airport

A new pile of secret documents released by WikiLeaks shows how the CIA guided its people how to enter and exit Israel through Ben-Gurion International Airport without blowing their cover during security checks, thus adding to the speculations that Israel serves as a target for operations by the spy agency.

The document, titled “CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover” and dated September 2011, contains a long list of guidelines for operatives using false identities.

“Secondary screening – a potentially lengthy and detailed look by airport officials at passengers not passing initial scrutiny – can significantly stress the identities of operational travelers,” reads the introduction. “Referral to secondary screening can occur if irregularities or questions arise during any stage of airport processing – immigration, customs, or security – and regardless of whether the traveler is arriving, in transit, or departing. Officials may also randomly select travelers.”

Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport is among the airports mentioned in the document as being particularly thorough. “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,” the CIA notes.

“Israel’s security personnel focus on frequent travel to Islamic countries,” the document explains. “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.”

The document includes a detailed description of secondary checks at Ben-Gurion: “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.

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