Israel's Low-Profile Security Style

Before arriving in Israel, I imagined I would find a highly militarized state, with checkpoints and guns a common sight. The reality though is quite different.

A final thought about Israel: there was certainly a lower level of security in the areas I visited than I would have expected. Before I arrived, I would have pictured the country as a highly militarized state, with checkpoints, metal detectors and men with guns a frequent occurrence.

And to a certain point, it is true that Israel has a high emphasis on security – but less true than I would have originally suspected.

It surprised me, for example, that upon landing there were no visible soldiers at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, one of the most secure airports in the world. At customs, I hardly had the chance to finish my first sentence explaining why I was in Israel before being interrupted by the CLAMP of a stamp in my passport. Checks on luggage for the importation of illegal fruits and vegetables are based on the honor principle – I walked right on past.

At the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, there was only a cursory security checkpoint. An unarmed staff member – calling him a guard might be a stretch – sat casually on a nearby table, dressed in a polo shirt. People passed through the metal detector out of habit, as did I – it was only later that I realized I had not emptied my pockets of change or my phone, had not taken off my belt or watch, and certainly was not asked to remove my shoes. And yet, this seemed to be no cause for concern. For comparison, I’ve had more thorough searches entering a House of Representatives office building.

Another surprise was the lack of security alluded to in my piece about traveling to Itamar. A mere 36 hours before, five Israeli settlers had been killed in stabbings. And yet there was not so much as a wave-through from Israeli Defense Forces on our travels up from Jerusalem. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon later explained to FrumForum that checkpoints in the West Bank have been reduced from forty-one to fourteen in the past few months, over the objections of Israeli settlers in the area.

There are two takeaways from this experience. Firstly, it shows how much of Israel’s defense against terrorism is shifting to the non-physical: intelligence gathering efforts, psychological pressure, and profiling. IDF Central Command Peter Lerner tells FrumForum that the removal of the aforementioned checkpoints was made possible by an increased focus on intelligence that aims to discover attacks well before terrorists arrive at checkpoints.

Secondly, it’s important to note that my travel experience was not typical for the region. I’m sure I’d have much harsher words to say about the security arrangements in the West Bank if I were trying to conduct business there, or if I lived on one side of the West Bank barrier and the land I cultivated was on the other. It would be negligent not to note the inconvenience and cost to the economy that such security measures take.

But even so, the Israeli government is taking steps to reduce these costs. Just two weeks before the Itamar massacre, Israel removed a checkpoint between the settlement and the nearby Palestinian town of Nablus. Danny Ayalon, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, tells FrumForum that checkpoints are extremely important security tools – but that their removal was necessary.

“Only two weeks ago we removed checkpoints from near Itamar,” says Ayalon. “No one has invented a better way than checkpoints… When you remove checkpoints, terrorism goes up… [But] we do not believe in collective punishment. We are trying to distinguish between terrorists and the collective population.”

The Israeli government still falls short in that goal. But they are at least trying, and cognizant of the ‘apartheid state’ epithet often hurled at them by opponents. To counter this perception, it appears that Israel’s security precautions are not loosening, but rather disappearing beyond sight – with an expectation that both Israelis and Palestinians will benefit.

Tim Mak is in Israel as a Media Fellow with the new media organization Act for Israel.

Click here to read Tim's reports from Israel.

Add Tim on twitter: www.twitter.com/timkmak

Tweet