DoubleTapper: US Airport Security to Copy Israeli Security Model

US Airport Security to Copy Israeli Security Model

Retired Major General Robert Harding, Obama's nominee to oversee security at U.S. airports said on Tuesday he wants to shift screening closer to the Israeli model of Airport Security to include more behavior detection in a bid to thwart terrorism plots.

Retired Major General Robert Harding was nominated earlier this month to head the Transportation Security Administration after serving more than three decades in the military, including a stint as deputy to the Army's chief of intelligence and director for operations in the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Aviation security has received heightened attention in recent months after a Nigerian terrorist tried to blow up a U.S. commercial airliner flying from Amsterdam to Detroit last Christmas with a bomb hidden in his crotch.

Harding said that while the Israeli security system was smaller, it offered a blueprint for trying to thwart terrorism plots in the aviation system, which has remained a target for militant groups like al Qaeda.

"We should move even closer to an Israeli model where there's more engagement with passengers," Harding told the Senate Commerce Committee that is considering his nomination. "I think that increases the layers and pushes the layers out."

He said the TSA had about 2,000 behavioral detection officers and that expanded training was needed.

DoubleTapper: US Airport Security to Copy Israeli Security Model