I travel alot from Israel both to the US and Europe. There is no comparison in the level of security. In the US there is basically no security. The people who work at the metal detectors and x-ray machines are getting paid minimum wage and have little training. In Europe, in places like Frankfurt, London, etc. and in Israel they take security very seriously. The downside is that this takes alot of time, we have had people come on business trips to Israel who have been interrogated for 2 hours before being allowed to board the plane. The level of security is a tradeoff between convenience cost and security. For example, El Al (Israel's airline) puts every bag (including carryon's) through a very sophisticated scanner which checks for explosives, etc. this costs them alot of money and takes time, they also have an armed security guard on every flight. So far, the US airlines have been very reluctant to spend money on security, and passengers don't want to lose the time, maybe this will change their tune.