Thank you very much for the question.
Mr. Sela can correct me if I misunderstand his point of view. He makes the argument—and I think it is one entirely appropriate for a country as small and, frankly, as vulnerable as Israel—that airport security needs to be integrated into the entire national security architecture. Given that it takes only 25 minutes to get from the West Bank or Gaza to Ben Gurion airport, there is a much different level of security that is required. For example, the checkpoints that exist in east Jerusalem or along the security wall provide information that can then be used to, if not “profile”, then at least “identify” who should be subject to more screening.
In Canada, we have a fundamentally different legal and political culture that says that airports and mobility are part of our right to move and are part of our right to freedom. We say that surveillance does not extend beyond, for example, the airport or the airport checkpoints to general public places or to other areas of concern.
So I think the threat that Canada faces is radically different from the one Israel faces. Canada has not experienced the same threats or attacks to airports that Israel has. We are not in the same geopolitical neighbourhood that Israel is in. I think it is only natural that they be far more sensitive to security in that way than we are.