Background: great demand by state and civil agencies for security training at the Authority’s facilities; the Authority will relocate the present school at Sdot Yam and vend training services alongside the training programs for its own security personnel.

The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) plans to establish a security school on the grounds of Ben Gurion International Airport, and move the existing school from its present location in Sdot Yam. For more than a decade, the school has served to train the security personnel of Ben Gurion International Airport and border terminals. In recent years a number of civil and government agencies have also chosen to benefit from the school’s training services, based on its proven reputation.

The school trains and instructs hundreds of security guards every year in governmental and civilian courses, whose duration and level are regularly supervised by Israel’s   directive institutions. Graduates of the IAA security school are entrusted with the security of various national facilities - including Ben Gurion International Airport and the country’s border terminals - and have been cited by government security officials for outstanding performance of their duties.

The director general of the Authority, Mr. Gabi Ofir, noted that the initiative for this plan was formulated in response to the increasing demand by additional state agencies for security training at the IAA’s security school - which, as mentioned above, is renowned for its high standards and the quality of the training it provides. Today, the IAA security school is situated at a remote location with basic facilities. In view of the upgrade that would be required for these facilities to meet current demand, as well as the growing number of internal IAA trainingcourses, a plan was formed to build the security school on the grounds of Ben Gurion International Airport, at an investment of 23 million NIS.

According to an Authority survey, establishing the school will be highly worth while financially, since it will operate as a closed financial unit, giving priority to the Authority in contracting its services, while also vending its services to outside parties, including government agencies from overseas.