The soft underbelly of aviation
Dr. Menachem (Mena) Barchach, a retired IDF brigadier general and internationally renowned expert in counterterrorism and aviation security, analyzes in his new book the ongoing race between attack and defense over fifty years of fighting aviation terrorism. He points to the gap between recognizing a threat and preparing for it, comparing it to the events of October 7 and the Yom Kippur War, and warns that a single negligent cell is enough to expose the system's soft underbelly.
Dr. Menachem (Mena) Barchach, a retired IDF brigadier general and internationally renowned expert in counterterrorism and aviation security, analyzes in his new book "Aviation Under Threat: Fifty Years of Fighting Terrorism in the United States and Israel" the constant race between attack and defense. The book documents attacks, responses, the identification of new vulnerabilities, and so on. Barchach refers to the attempted attack on Flydubai flight FZ1073, stating that the system recognized the threat of a pilot marked as a risk but did not act accordingly. He compares this to the events of October 7 and the Yom Kippur War, noting that those who saved the situation were the "junior officers." Barchach reviews the evolution of aviation terrorism from the hijacking of an El Al flight to Algiers in 1968 to attempted downings using shoulder-fired missiles, and criticizes the American approach that relies on technology at the expense of the human factor. He emphasizes that aviation security must protect countless vulnerabilities, while terrorism needs only one breach. Despite the successes, he warns that the system is always one step behind terrorism, and a single negligent cell is enough to expose the soft underbelly.