Nine terror cells threaten flights at Ben-Gurion
Security sources reveal: Some attempts were prevented in early stages,
others shortly before implementation.
Ben Kaspit Maariv 20 February 2004
maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=3296

Palestinian terrorist organizations have been making great efforts to attack
flights at Ben Gurion Airport. To date, the Israeli security services have
prevented nine attempts to down flights taking-off or landing at the
airport.

These attempts are behind Israel's insistence on building an extension of
the counter-terrorism barrier that is designed to protect the airport from
the east and prevent shoulder-fired missiles or other weapons from being
aimed at flights, similar to the Al Qaeda attempt to down an Arkia flight in
Kenya.

Security officials predict that a successful attack or even an attempt that
reaches the final stages would have a devastating affect on the Israeli
economy by paralyzing civil aviation and halting incoming tourism. Their
information indicates that some Palestinian organizations, especially the
Palestinian Authority, are also aware of this. Therefore, they are also
interested in preventing an attack on civil aviation for fear that if would
lead to total escalation of tensions in the region.

Israel explained to the American delegation, which came to inspect security
at Ben-Gurion, that the threats on flights come mostly from the Hezbollah
and Iranian-influenced opposition groups. Israel and the United States
disagree about the need for extending the barrier near the airport. Israel
claims that there is a real risk to civil aviation while the Americans
disagree and consider the risk to be minimal. A senior IDF officer who
accompanied the delegation discounted the American calculation by explaining
that they consider the risk to a specific flight while Israel calculated the
overall risk to all flights.