Security at Ben Gurion Airport

March 2, 2016 3:08 AM

I want to go to Tel Aviv. If I've to Lebanon twice in the last year, should I be worried about security at the airport?

Relevant profiling info: I'm white, American but with an Eastern European name, a woman, have tattoos, atheist, late-20s, travel a lot.

I don't really care about other stuff, but the thing that makes me hesitate the most is that I've read things online about security officers at that airport demanding smartphone passcodes, which makes me feel icky.

posted by anonymous to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total)

You should have no problems.

My experience is out of date, but for what it's worth:

I used to work in the area and got to travel around on my down time. It was "suggested" by my employer that if I went to Israel, I should have the visa stamped on a separate sheet of paper, not in my passport. Getting in and out of Israel was a breeze (nice people!), but getting back into (some) neighboring countries could be problematic if they saw an Israeli visa.
posted by james33 at 3:27 AM on March 2, 2016

I was recently in Israel and got a new (actually an extra) passport for the trip, as recommended by experts, because I have traveled all over the ME.
Some of my international group of companions were treated in an unfriendly manner by airport security, but I think as an American, you'll be fine. Can't imagine they care about tattoos or styles of clothing, or your religious leanings.
posted by mumimor at 3:57 AM on March 2, 2016

You may just want to budget extra time. I got through with extra screening, probably related to multiple Arab country stamps (including KSA!) in my passport. I did not have to give my smartphone passcode but I did have to turn on all my devices to show that they were normal.
posted by emkelley at 3:59 AM on March 2, 2016

Israel does not stamp any passports anymore, they just give you a little slip of paper instead. You need to hang onto it at the very least for a minute past passport control to scan through the electronic turnstile to baggage claim.

Since you are a white American you probably don't need to worry much.
posted by lullaby at 4:16 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

You won't have any problems, but you should prepare yourself that during the entrance and exit from the country that you will be asked many questions from many different people. You might find this blog entry including the discussion from Bruce Schneier helpful.

I've copied a relevant coomment: "When you fly El-Al, you have to show up well in advance of your flight because each person (or group of people if traveling as a family or group) gets screened by a person who asks you questions about who you are, where you're going, why you're traveling, etc. They also ask a lot of questions unrelated to the trip to try and gauge your reactions, and see if you look like you're hiding something. (Common questions I've had include "what do you do for a living", "Who do you work for", "Do you speak Hebrew", etc.) They also follow up on the questions - if I say I'm going to visit friends in Tel-Aviv they'll ask me for names, and then ask how I know them. If I say it's a college friend, they'll ask where I went to college and what my major was. If I say I know Hebrew they'll give me an impromptu quiz. They don't really care if I pass the Hebrew pop quiz or what my college major was, but they are looking for my reactions. The screeners may seem innocuous but they're all trained to look for suspicious activities and responses."
posted by jazh at 4:40 AM on March 2, 2016 [6 favorites]

Just to clarify a bit, that type of questioning is the norm at Ben Gurion airport, but it's not related to El Al. You'll have to deal with security agents regardless of which airline you fly in and out of TLV. (I currently live in Israel and travel out of the country ~4 times per year and almost never fly El Al because it's rarely the cheapest option, but YMMV.)
posted by lullaby at 5:43 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Having stamps from other Middle East countries when flying into Israel is not a problem. The reverse is a huge problem, and the reason why Israel rarely stamps passports anymore. You flat out can't get into many Middle East countries if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 6:38 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

I straight-up asked for a stamp when I arrived in Israel last fall and they refused, saying they don't do that any more.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:49 AM on March 2, 2016

Yeah, budget extra time. It isn't always even clear what gets someone flagged, but it's not unusual at all and it can take a while. I don't know about all airlines/airports/countries, but at least on El-Al you're questioned before you even leave the USA (or wherever you're flying out of, I can only assume) in addition to immigration at to Ben Gurion.

I've never known anyone who tried and wasn't let in to the country, but I've seen people be singled out of groups (and questioned privately for upwards of 15 minutes) for a slightly unusual name or an odd hippie-esque necklace.

If you're really worried about the phone thing, it wouldn't be unethical or illegal to just temporarily back up your phone, remove information you are sensitive about (emails/texts/whatever), and remove the passcode just so that you're not uncomfortable if they look. Leave anything innocuous, obviously. I don't think being asked for that is normal/typical, and I've never known anyone asked, but that doesn't mean it never happens.
posted by R a c h e l at 8:20 AM on March 2, 2016

One data point: I went from the US to Abu Dhabi a couple years ago, and on the way back spent a week in Israel. I wasn't aware of any extra scrutiny on the way in to Israel, but on the way home, I was selected at airport security for extra checks. They removed everything from my carry-on and swabbed every surface of everything inside to check for explosives residue--and when I mean every surface, I mean if there was a cube, they would swab all six sides separately. And then my checked luggage didn't make it onto my flight, even though it was a direct flight and I arrived at the airport 2.5 hours early.

Nobody told me why I was selected for the extra check or why my bag was delayed, but my trip to the UAE seemed like a likely cause.
posted by benbenson at 10:26 AM on March 2, 2016

As others have stated, you can't really predict if you'll be selected for higher level screening when flying out of Israel. I'm a white American (with no Arab country stamps on my current passport, I think), and it's happened to me. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time -- definitely arrive at least three hours before your flight, four is more comfortable.
posted by wyzewoman at 11:44 AM on March 2, 2016

An unrelated piece of advice I'm not sure is still relevant. It used to be the protocol at Ben Gurion, and at major airports with flights departing to Israel, to drive the passengers in a coach to the base of the runway and the waiting jet, which had its engines running at a decibel volume far beyond what is comfortable for any human being. It's been a long time. Bring earplugs, just in case.
posted by little eiffel at 11:50 AM on March 2, 2016

My US passport shows a sticker from a trip to Jordan I took, whenever I fly to Israel they ask me about the trip, when it was, how long I was there for and why I was there. They do this as part of the regular screening that jazh mentioned. I've never had an issue because of it, but it's always asked about.
posted by doublenelson at 3:56 PM on March 3, 2016