Feels The U.S. System Is "Gaining Acceptance"

During a visit to Israel in which she met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli Finance Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano (pictured) defended TSA's method of screening airline passengers.

Napolitano visited Ben Gurion International Airport to meet with airport officials to discuss ways both nations are enhancing global aviation security while streamlining legitimate travel and trade. The United States and Israel work closely together to share information about terrorists and other individuals who may pose a security threat. Several in the U.S. have called on DHS to adopt a system of screening passengers more like Israel's, which includes interviewing passengers and what some would call "profiling".

But Napolitano told Reuters that she does not anticipate any major changes in how U.S. air passengers are screened. She said TSA was seeing fewer people opting out of the system, which she interprets as greater acceptance of the full-body scanners and enhanced pat-downs for those selected for additional screening. While Napolitano stopped short of calling the Israeli method "profiling," she did say it would not be used at U.S. airports.

FMI: www.dhs.gov