Israel: Wikileaks document reveals how CIA trains agents to pass through Ben-Gurion airport undetected

The CIA trains its agents to survive security at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport without uncovering their true identity, a confidential document published by Wikileaks has revealed.

The document, entitled "CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover", gives operatives who use a second identity a list of thorough instructions on how to avoid detection at international airports that have strict security procedures.

The document, dated September 2011, has collated intelligence from reports and testimonies from CIA operatives after May 2010, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

"Secondary screening – a potentially lengthy and detailed look by airport officials at passengers not passing initial scrutiny – can significantly stress the identities of operational travellers," the document's introduction says.

"Referral to secondary screening can occur if irregularities or questions arise during any stage of airport processing – immigration, customs, or security – and regardless of whether the traveller is arriving, in transit, or departing. Officials may also randomly select travellers."

The document says that other international airports mostly do not hold the resources to thoroughly investigate and expose agents from other countries, like Israel's main airport does.

"With the exception of Israel's Ben Gurion airport and a few others, immigration inspectors conducting primary screenings generally lack the time and tools to conduct in-depth examination of travellers' bona fides," according to the document released by Wikileaks.

The document moves on to list some factors in being required to partake in the secondary screening procedures.

"A review of clandestine reporting reveals examples of what various countries consider to be suspicious.

"Israel's security personnel focus on frequent travel to Islamic countries," the document adds.

"Security personnel at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, commonly refer military-aged males travelling alone with backpacks to secondary screening, regardless of their nationality or skin colour."

The report details what agents can expect in the secondary screening room if requested.

"At Ben Gurion airport in Israel, the secondary screening room contains trace-detection equipment for explosive residue; tools for dismantling passengers' personal items for inspection, particularly items unfamiliar to security officers; and a disrobing area, divided by privacy curtains, to conduct strip searches of individuals, if necessary."

Airport security officials in Ben-Gurion have also been known to make people log in to their Gmail accounts on their laptops, searching for the terms "Israel" and "Palestine" to find out more information about the traveller.

There have also been multiple reports from travellers of airport security "googling" their names to find out more about them.