US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has rejected calls to adopt Israeli-style security checks at American airports. Napolitano, who came this week to Israel ,said during an interview Wednesday that methods suitable for a small country like Israel would not necessarily work for the world's largest superpower.
Criticism has mounted recently against US airport security methods, especially full-body scans, as overly invasive. There have also been calls to adopt Israeli-style methods, which are based on identifying suspicious behavior among passengers.
Napolitano meets President Shimon Peres (Photo: AFP)
In an interview with Fox News following a tour of Ben Gurion International Airport, Napolitano said Israel and the US share the same aim of defending passengers against terror and other attacks. However, she noted, there are many differences between the American and Israeli systems, one of which is the sheer size of the security apparatus.
During the tour, the US visitor was also granted an in-depth briefing on the security measures taken at the airport.
She said what worked in Israel, a country of some 7 million citizens, would not necessarily work in a country of some 310 million. As a point of comparison, Ben Gurion airport is Israel's only large international airport, while the US has some 450 major airports. In addition, according to the Fox item, the air industry in Israel sees some 11 million passengers each year, while the US has over 70 times more.