The identified weak point - and the solutions: how Ben Gurion Airport will try to prevent deserters from leaving for Uman
With military police at the airport - and a dedicated detention vehicle: the plan formulated to close security loopholes exploited under the cover of heavy congestion at Ben Gurion Airport.
The air bridge to Uman will begin in the coming days. At Ben Gurion Airport, officials are preparing for cases where they will have to deal with numerous instances of deserters seeking to leave the country. Military police will reinforce the Population and Immigration Authority inspectors at border control. A dedicated detention vehicle will wait in the airside area to prevent escape. The goal is to prevent passage through passport control without stamping. It is expected that the number of passengers to countries bordering Ukraine will increase significantly.
Ahead of the start of the air bridge to Uman, security and law enforcement officials at Ben Gurion Airport are preparing to prevent attempts by deserters to escape the country, as reported last Saturday on the weekend news. The joint move by the Ministry of Transport, the Population and Immigration Authority, and the IDF was formulated to close security loopholes that have been exploited in recent months under the cover of heavy congestion at the airport. The new policy was formulated after a series of discussions between professional bodies.
It was decided that passport control stations, located before entering the Duty Free area, will be reinforced with military police and Ministry of Transport representatives who will assist the Population and Immigration Authority inspectors. At Ben Gurion Airport, there are fears that images of chaos will emerge, especially after the unusual congestion that occurred there in recent weeks.
Law enforcement officials have identified in recent months a phenomenon where draft evaders who are prohibited from leaving the country stick to passengers who have received permission to leave. Under the cover of heavy congestion, the deserters manage to pass the inspection stations without stamping their passports and enter the aircraft area. Dealing with this weak point is the main goal of the new reinforcement, which will begin operating in the coming days with the increase in alert at the airport.
In addition to the human reinforcement, a dedicated detention vehicle will wait in the airside area of the airport for those deserters who try to bypass departure procedures. The increased preparation is being carried out ahead of a significant increase in the number of passengers to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.
