It's El Al that insists on such procedures, not the "Israelis." When we visited Israel in March, those who checked us in asked some questions, but did not open and check any of our bags after they went through the scanner, though they checked the bags of others in our group. Indeed, they checked the bags of the Jewish passengers more intently than they did ours. We flew Continental out of Tel Aviv.
Bettenelli leaves the impression that no one but Arabs have their bags or shoes checked. That is simply not true, based on our experience.
On a similar note, when I once visited Belarus I was warned that they would dump out my bags and all sorts of horror stories. They did not. I was honest with them and they saw no threat, so they bid me happy vacation.
If only our own security could do as well.