Jerusalem Post - 10.05.2001

 

Jerusalem Post

Israel Supplies US With Central Asia Intelligence

By Janine Zacharia

WASHINGTON - Israel has been supplying the US with an extraordinary amount of behind-the-scenes intelligence assistance and security advice since the September 11 terrorist attacks, despite demands from Arab states that it not be permitted to participate in a coalition against terrorism.

Since the attacks, Israel has provided the US with information about the suspected hijackers. And the US has sought intelligence assistance from Israel particularly regarding Central Asia, where Israel has a stronger foothold.

Israel has better intelligence and stronger relations with countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, places that could prove crucial in any offensive against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network based in Afghanistan.

Israel has absorbed large emigrant populations from those countries. And because of its proximity to enemies such as Iran, Israel has devoted intelligence resources there, both human and electronic. A year ago the Uzbek government, in a sign of partnership, appealed to Israel for aid in combating the rise of Islamic violence in the region.

On the security front, as the US grows ever more fearful of a possible biological or chemical attack, US officials have been counseling with their Israeli counterparts on how Israel secures its water and food supplies against sabotage, sources familiar with the discussions say.

And yesterday four security experts from El Al met quietly with administration officials in Washington. The experts were invited to testify before the House Transportation and Senate Transportation aviation subcommittees on Wednesday about El Al security measures.

The committees are drafting versions of an aviation security bill that are due to be presented next week, and participants in the meeting said the committees would take the advice of the El Al representatives into consideration when finalizing their bills.

At El Al's request, the committee meetings were closed so that its security techniques, widely lauded as a possible model for America's airline industry, would not be jeopardized.

El Al, with only 31 airplanes, operates on a much smaller scale than the sprawling US airline industry, and even the security experts acknowledged that for logistical and financial reasons not all procedures would be adaptable.

But as the US weighs issues of whether to mandate stronger cockpit doors and air marshals, routine in El Al aircraft, legislators were keen to have input from security experts who have been employing such measures for decades.

"Ever since September 11, people have been pointing to El Al as the type of airline the US should use as a model to improve airline security. They gave a very good briefing on how their flights operate as far as security goes," said Steve Hansen, communications director for the House Transportation Committee.

During the hour-long meeting, legislators and staffers were particularly interested in how El Al handles racial profiling, whether they believe passenger screeners and baggage handlers should be federal workers, and whether they believe pilots should be equipped with hand guns.

Regarding guns, the El Al representatives said that a gun used to be stored in a safe in every cockpit, but they were removed when plain-clothes armed marshals started accompanying all flights.

"With air marshals, you have people who are trained to act in moments of crisis. It's better to let the air marshals do the fighting and the pilots do the flying," Hansen quoted the El Al representatives as telling legislators.

The bills being drafted are not expected to include a hand-gun provision.

Legislators were particularly impressed with the tough standards set for screeners who interview passengers boarding El Al flights.

The El Al officials said employees are immediately let go if they are found to be lax on their job, and legislators expressed concern that if airport security workers in the US are made civil servants, the federal bureaucracy would preclude such flexibility in dismissals.