The Israeli Ministry of Transport, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA), El Al Airlines, and other organizations are sponsoring an aviation security conference in Washington. The conference will take place on June 16-18.
The "Safe Skies" conference will deal with solutions to the terrorist threat against civil aviation services around the world, and will probably be largest ever of its kind. The conference will have a significant Israeli presence - participants will include Minister of Transport Ephraim Sneh, Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, top Israeli security experts, and the heads of major Israeli security services companies.
This may be a private conference, but because of the importance of the issue and the know-how it has accumulated, Israel has decided to sponsor it," an Israeli security source involved in organizing the conference told "Globes". "The plan is not just to get Israeli security companies exposure among US security professionals, although that is an important goal, but also to display Israel's potential contribution to US security and promote security cooperation between the two countries."
The source said the idea of the conference arose from the current Israeli-US dialogue on security matters at various levels. Israel has contacts with the US Department of Transportation; the Office of Homeland Security, headed by Tom Ridge; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; defense industries; and military and intelligence agencies. The conference is designed to utilize and nurture these contacts.
In answer to a question why the conference was not taking place in Israel, the security source said that preparations for the conference began at the height of the suicide bombings, and it would be much easier to attract potential participants to Washington than Tel Aviv.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on June 5, 2002