13-Year-Old Evades Tel Aviv Airport Security, Sneaks Onto EL AL Flight

13-Year-Old Evades Tel Aviv Airport Security, Sneaks Onto EL AL Flight

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Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) is often referred to as the world’s most secure airport. However, even there it seems to be possible for people to sneak onto flights, in what can only be described as a very strange story.

Crew catches teenager who snuck onto EL AL flight

The Times of Israel reports that on the night of Tuesday, October 7, 2025, a 13-year-old boy managed to get through security and passport control at Ben Gurion Airport, and board an EL AL flight to New York. This is despite the fact that the boy didn’t have a ticket or passport.

It’s believed that the teenager managed to sneak through most checks by staying close to an adult while passing through security and immigration. Passengers under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult when traveling, but of course that doesn’t explain how he remained undetected.

After clearing security and immigration, the teenager spent some time in the duty free shops, before boarding the plane. He only ended up being caught by the flight crew. He reportedly sat in a seat that was designated for one of the crew members, shortly before the plane was due to take off. Once caught, the boy was removed from the aircraft and questioned.

Per a statement from the airline:

“The flight crew saw a boy who boarded the plane without a ticket or passport after passing all the security and border control stages at Ben Gurion. The boy was safely removed from the plane before takeoff, and the incident is being investigated by the Airports Authority.”

The teenager was only caught once onboard the aircraft

It’s a mystery how the boy passed all these checks

It’s concerning when people are able to sneak through both immigration and security checkpoints at any airport, but it’s especially puzzling at an airport like Ben Gurion, which prides itself in its very high security standards.

All departing passengers at the airport are required to undergo a three part security screening process, and that includes showing your passport and ticket or boarding pass at every stage.

This starts with a security screening at the check-in counter, including being questioned. Presumably this step was skipped, since the teenager didn’t have a boarding pass or passport on him. But then passengers again have to show their documents when going through security, and then also when going through passport control (where travelers have to undergo biometric screening). Then travelers have to go through yet another boarding pass check before boarding their plane.

It’s one thing to sneak past just one of these checks, but being able to pass through all of them, without being detected? That’s rather alarming. I wonder if he was actually screened properly at the security checkpoint but just didn’t have his documents checked, or if he even evaded the entirety of the standard screening.

One also wonders what the teenager’s motive was with this little excursion. He somehow made his way to the airport, and presumably he put some thought into this scheme, or else he wouldn’t have almost gotten away with it.

Sneaking through Ben Gurion Airport takes some skill

Bottom line

A teenager managed to sneak onto a New York-bound EL AL flight without a passport or boarding pass, somehow evading all the security checks. He was only caught onboard, when he reportedly sat down in a seat reserved for a crew member.

While you occasionally see people sneak onto flights, it’s particularly surprising to see this at Ben Gurion Airport, given the extreme security measures in place.

What do you make of this incident involving an unaccounted for EL AL passenger?

Conversations (24)
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  1. Anthony Guest

    Yeah we did a pilgrimage years ago to Israel, decided to take El Al. Would never do that again.
    The security we had to go thru, the ridiculous of it all, was not worth it.
    They ended up giving us compensation, amazingly they apologised, it was that bad. And you know that didn't come easy from them.

    For this kid to get thru, thats a Wow.

  2. NYGuy24 Diamond

    Gotten away with it how? As soon as he got to NY the jig would be up because there would be no way for him to enter the country. Chances are he had no idea how it would work on the other end of the flight

  3. Samus Aran Guest

    So those movies and shows with teenage secret agents using their youth as a tool to evade suspicion and suggest innocence aren't actually that unrealistic? Life imitates art.

  4. Phil_S Gold

    Anyway, back to what matters. It’s 2025, and in this dystopian haze, it’s worth noting that even the most “invincible,” “God’s chosen” project eventually starts leaking from every seam. Evil empires don’t fall with grace, I suppose; they rot from within, still screaming righteousness while the scaffolding collapses.
    Even the “world’s most secure airport” built on U.S. tax dollars and hubris, of course, isn’t immune ; - ) Justice, it turns out, is contagious,...

    Anyway, back to what matters. It’s 2025, and in this dystopian haze, it’s worth noting that even the most “invincible,” “God’s chosen” project eventually starts leaking from every seam. Evil empires don’t fall with grace, I suppose; they rot from within, still screaming righteousness while the scaffolding collapses.
    Even the “world’s most secure airport” built on U.S. tax dollars and hubris, of course, isn’t immune ; - ) Justice, it turns out, is contagious, and no amount of surveillance or spin can stop the infection. After all, colonial savagery and genocide make terrible PR in 2025. No nation, no matter how desperate its myth, survives - the business of genociding the natives - forever. Free Palestine.

    1. SB Guest

      Free LGBT people and women who have the misfortune of being treated as subhuman and often subjected to horrific violence due to Muslim theocracy. Phil couldn't care less about them. Guess impaling a thousand virgins in heaven, or maybe the vicarious thrill of thinking about Mohammed's nine year old wife trumps basic human rights for the "Palestine" worshipers. Or did some JAP reject them back in high school?

      Liberals have lost the plot in 2025.

  5. julian Guest

    PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!

    GOD BLESS DONALD J TRUMP!!

    1. Toobis Diamond

      God will certainly do something with him when he thankfully passes

  6. Speedbird Guest

    Ah yes, much like the most effective advanced military in the world needs to level hospitals and refugee camps to kill terrorists armed with AK's, the most effective and advanced airport security in the world that is totally justified in its open use of racial discrimination turns out to be extremely ineffective at stopping the softest of targets when they turn out to be the wrong skin color.

  7. D3SWI33 Guest

    I was really nervous on my bar mitzvah. I crushed the hof tora and my reception was on a yacht. 22 classmates showed up. 2 boys and 20 girls.

  8. ORD_Is_My_Second_Home Diamond

    So this is what playing on Nightmare Level entails.

  9. Nelson Diamond

    Don't have experience at TLV but I'm not a teenager and in Europe in certain Airports I got almost the same, didn't try to go in the plane but get through every security without a ticket and entered the lounge with my FF-pass without any problem. Last time was one week ago. Those automatic things surely help with it!

  10. view Guest

    Surprising in TLV I must say, this is not your average level of security.

  11. Aaron Gold Guest

    I assume this kid was not Arab, he could never have gotten that far, and he would currently be confined to solitary confinement!

  12. Carlos Guest

    I'm gonna use "this skip was stepped" all the time now :)

  13. Peter Guest

    “This skip was stepped” made me smile but I understood what you meant :)

  14. Julie Guest

    He was promised the flight 3000 years ago

    1. DT Diamond

      Ah, there it is. The one joke that Israel-haters have.

    2. Julie Guest

      I do hate Israel. It's a nation committing genocide. Nothing anti-semitic about being anti-genocide.

      Unless you are saying all Jews are responsible for the oppression of Palestinians?

    3. Samo Member

      Palestinians are not being oppressed, they are dealing with consequences of their brutal attack on Israel. Protecting your country is not a genocide, especially if there's not even a population drop in Palestine.

    4. PatelPatel Guest

      Why would you hate an entire nation, seriously? Is it appropriate to hate all Palestinians, or just Hamas? Bizarre double standard.

    5. Speedbird Guest

      "Free speech" enjoyers when the free speech is the tamest of jokes about Israel:

    6. Long Way Around Guest

      I'm Jewish and I could not have laughed harder. Thank you Sasha!!

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

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Julie Guest

He was promised the flight 3000 years ago

6
Phil_S Gold

Anyway, back to what matters. It’s 2025, and in this dystopian haze, it’s worth noting that even the most “invincible,” “God’s chosen” project eventually starts leaking from every seam. Evil empires don’t fall with grace, I suppose; they rot from within, still screaming righteousness while the scaffolding collapses. Even the “world’s most secure airport” built on U.S. tax dollars and hubris, of course, isn’t immune ; - ) Justice, it turns out, is contagious, and no amount of surveillance or spin can stop the infection. After all, colonial savagery and genocide make terrible PR in 2025. No nation, no matter how desperate its myth, survives - the business of genociding the natives - forever. Free Palestine.

5
Aaron Gold Guest

I assume this kid was not Arab, he could never have gotten that far, and he would currently be confined to solitary confinement!

5
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