There was one time, the company missed issue me that letter. I had to go thru the 2 hours security hell which they inspected and questioned everything.
After that, I have decided that I would never go back to Israel again for biz or any other purposes. It is just not worth it.
I think you mean the other way around. If you are being asked all these questions the flight was from TLV to Athens. Right?
"El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers are asked questions about their place of origin, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves. [...] Even at overseas airports, El Al security agents conduct all luggage searches personally, even if they are supervised by government or private security firms."
I've also faced heightened security traveling from TLV to other airports, featuring another barrage of questions and extra screening. But to their credit, they helped me skip some lines and get to the plane just before it left.
https://www.asi-mag.com/ann-marie-murphy-hindawi-affair-30th...
Exactly. AFIK I responded normally.
Not to mention someone actually doing something malicious with their computer probably wouldn't tell security they're a SW eng.
Once when I was boarding a plane to fly into TLV from Athens, I got about 200 questions in the space of 5 minutes, from 3 different people. When I mentioned who I used to work for, they asked me what that kind of work entailed, what did my office building look like, what city was it in, where was I living at that time, why was I living somewhere else, etc. I got the same questions multiple times, spaced apart.
They don't actually give a crap what my old office building looked like. They're looking for responses that appear delayed, evasive, made up.
After the questions I had to follow them to another room to have my bags meticulously inspected and scanned. They then checked my bags for me (breaking my zipper in the process - and no, the airline didn't do jack about it) and finally let me board. After I was on, they barged on and insisted some older passenger who had been sitting quietly leave the plane immediately while it was on the tarmac, and left.
Traveling through Israel is a pain in the ass.