Airport 'Israelification': Close Up. Personal

Canada's The Star.com has what strikes me as one of the clearest explanations of why no plane has ever been hijacked, let alone blown up, flying out of Israel.

'It is mindboggling for us Israelis to look at what happens in North America, because we went through this 50 years ago,' said Rafi Sela, the president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy. He's worked with the RCMP, the U.S. Navy Seals and airports around the world.

Here's what Flight 253 would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab would have faced had he flown out of Ben-Gurion International Airport:

"'Israelis, unlike Canadians and Americans, don't take s--- from anybody. When the security agency in Israel (the ISA) started to tighten security and we had to wait in line for — not for hours — but 30 or 40 minutes, all hell broke loose here. We said, 'We're not going to do this. You're going to find a way that will take care of security without touching the efficiency of the airport.''

"That, in a nutshell is 'Israelification' - a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death."

Read the rest.

I know this from personal experience: on my last flight in mid December - barring hanging out at the coffee shop - it took me under half an hour to go from parking lot to departure lounge.

Triplets Join Israel Air Force

Note: Sam Orbaum and I were colleagues and friends at The Jerusalem Post newspaper. Before my own triplet children were born 16-years ago, my then wife and I visited with Sam and his wife, Wendy (Elliman) to see what raising triplets was like. We learned a lot from their experience and commonsense child rearing.

You did good, Sam, and I, and so many others, miss you. May your soul rest in peace, and derive nachat from this:

Odelia, Nomi, and Donna Orbaum

Excerpt from The Jerusalem Post:

"'The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd,'wrote the late columnist Sam Orbaum about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, wrote about life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IDF Air Corps, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

Odelia, the oldest (born a minute before her two sisters), serves as a control officer ; Nomi is an air traffic controller; and Donna is currently in training for a different position. All three plan on attending the IDF's pestigious Office Candidate Course and extending their service for at least an additional year.

Nomi Orbaum says, "[Serving In the IDF ] is what characterizes the state."

"He supported us in everything we did until he passed away when we were 12," Donna said on how their father would feel about their serving in the IDF . "This is the seventh year since he passed away and I think about him all the time and see his smile and know that he would have been proud of us."

More about Sam here

Israeli President, YouTube Founder Launch Channel

Hurley presents President Peres with a plaque of YouTube code. (Photo: Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Chad Hurley, founder and CEO of YouTube, presented Peres with a plaque featuring original coding for the YouTube site, and the two discussed opportunities for using
YouTube as a tool to foster free expression towards achieving peace. Peres talked
about the potential for peace talks with Syria and related Middle East issues.


Meeting with Hurley at The Presidential Residence.

The launch and press conference included the premier screening of the President’s
first internet message on YouTube. Hurley made a special trip to Israel for the
launch.

Photos, audio and video (yes - on YouTube and not Vimeo...) will be posted here, so
check back later today: http://www.davebrianbender.com

(Photo Series) Bustin' a Hip-Hop, Na Nach Move in Jerusalem

Bustin' a move in the holy city... (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

(Photo series) Both hip-hop pop-lockers and Bratslaver hassidic youth share the street on downtown Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall.

Click over to the Flickr page below for more...