The Bin Laden Dividend.(Brief Article)

In a secluded corner of Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, Tuvia Livneh will be teaching a group of European security guards next week how to kill hijackers. Assisted by former Army commandos, Livneh will instruct clients in his air-marshals course on how to spot potential terrorists, what to do when they commandeer a plane and how to use a gun that's been modified for use in a pressurized cabin. The 55-year-old former secret-service official should know how; he was once an air marshal himself and later directed security at El Al, arguably the world's most protected airline. Livneh's private security company, Sital International, has offered this course for years but interest was low. No more. He's negotiating big contracts with European and American firms and the phone is ringing constantly. "Nobody really thought this was important until a couple of months ago," he says. "Now, business is good."

Not just for him. Israel's obsession with security over the years has spawned a pool of arms dealers and security mavens. In the aftermath of September 11, they're suddenly in demand. Across the country, small security companies that offer training and gear are suddenly the bright spot of the Israeli economy, battered for more than a year by war and the global high-tech slump. It isn't exactly a war dividend and it won't end Israel's economic stagnation. But for a few local industries it's been a startling windfall. At Boston's Logan airport, where two of the planes were hijacked, an Israeli now directs security. On the Stock Exchange, Israeli companies like Magal and ICTS have watched their shares double almost overnight. "Bin Laden wants to destroy Israel," says one businessman. "But from a business standpoint he's given us a shot in arm."

Shalon Chemical Industries knows it well. Its sprawling factory in the southern town of Kiryat Gat was already a large producer of gas masks and other protective equipment against unconventional warfare, but nearly all of its merchandise was being sold to the Israeli government. Israel is the only country in the world to furnish gas masks to its entire population. Since September 11, the company has received thousands of requests from American and European customers. In less than two months, Shalon has tripled its staff at the Kiryat Gat ...