Shin Bet starts using surveillance tools
Likud, Blue and White leaders battle over circumventing Knesset
The Shin Bet confirmed to The Jerusalem Post mid Tuesday afternoon that it had started surveillance of citizens infected by the coronavirus. An hour earlier, a top legal official confirmed that the Shin Bet’s legal authority to do so was already in effect.
Speaking to a group of journalists, the official said that there was a full green-light and the only questions were about whether the Shin Bet had made its own final decision to start using the new surveillance directive.
Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman issued a statement Tuesday morning saying that his agency would soon start delivering information about citizens infected with the coronavirus to the Health Ministry.
This came after the government unanimously passed the request by the Health Ministry to use digital counter-terrorism tools to track the movements of coronavirus patients.
The vote was held via conference call to adhere to the government‘s new guidelines forbidding more than 10 people to gather.
Argaman emphasized that the Shin Bet would not be involved in enforcement of the quarantine rules, as this would still be done by the police.
Argaman also said that the Shin Bet would not hold on to any of the information it collects from the persons’ cellphones, about their locations or otherwise, after delivering the information to the Health Ministry.
The Shin Bet chief clarified that his agency had been asked to perform these functions, but would not want to perform them any longer than medically necessary.
Argaman said there were limits on using surveillance technology, but like other officials, he did not specify the limits.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement defending his government’s decision to authorize the surveillance measures.
Netanyahu reacted to Blue and White leaders Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi calling the overnight decision “surrendering transparency” and “political thievery.”
“Because the pandemic is spreading at an incredibly fast pace, postponing using these tools by even an hour could cause the deaths of a very large amount of Israelis,” Netanyahu said, referencing Italy and other countries.
Netanyahu added that it could have taken the Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee days to deal with the issue. He said the attorney-general and Health Ministry drafted the decision and it will be in effect for 14 days, instead of the original 30 days, during which the committee could make recommendations about how to change it.
Gantz said that these are exceptional times that, unfortunately, call for exceptional measures in order to save lives. But he said the cabinet decision went too far.
“We cannot surrender transparency and oversight,” Gantz said. “Blue and White will insist that the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, along with a special Coronavirus sub-committee, the Finance Committee and other sub-committees be enlisted immediately to oversee the process and approve the type of oversight regulation so critical at this juncture.”
He said the Foreign Affairs and Defense committee must further be privy to information on tracking measures approved thus far.
“A functional parliament, even and especially in states of emergency, is a hallmark of democracy and we will be steadfast in preserving it,” he wrote.
Also on Tuesday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit issued a statement that he
green-lighted the government’s decision to let the Shin Bet move forward with their plans without Knesset approval. The situation, he explained, had become so acute that the country could no longer wait for parliamentary approval.
His announcement comes after Netanyahu appeared to break a promise of his and of Mandelblit’s that the Shin Bet surveillance of citizens would only start after Ashkenazi’s Intelligence Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved it.
Ashkenazi’s committee debated the issue for the first time on Monday, but demanded more time to analyze it, remarking that they would not be a rubber stamp.
Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri implied to a conference call of reporters that state lawyers had been surprised the Knesset did not quickly approve the Shin Bet surveillance plan.
Ashkenazi expressed outrage at the overnight cabinet decision, calling it “political thievery.”
“It is improper that this way of using such means is authorized, without parliamentary and public oversight,” Ashkenazi added.
Ashkenazi also called for the immediate formation of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in order to meet on the matter and ensure proper oversight as required by law.
Labor-Meretz MK Merav Michaeli used even harsher language in criticizing the decision, which she said was made to serve Netanyahu and not to serve the struggle against the coronavirus.
“The citizens of Israel are not terrorists,” she said. “There is no justification for such extreme and dangerous steps.”
Late Tuesday night, the High Court of Justice rejected a request to freeze the Shin Bet’s surveillance of citizens infected with the coronavirus, but agreed to hold a hearing on the issue on Thursday.
Justice Noam Sohlberg ordered the state to respond to the petition to compel binding oversight of the Shin Bet involvement by the Knesset.
Lawyer Shahar Ben Meir, in conjunction with the Movement for Digital Rights, filed the petition earlier Tuesday demanding that the court freeze Shin Bet surveillance until the Knesset signs off.
The petitioners also said that the basis for any Shin Bet involvement should be the Shin Bet Law, which includes significant civil liberties protections, and not an emergency order, which contains fewer protections.
Also on Tuesday night, the state filed a response to the High Court defending Acting Justice Minister Amir Ohana’s decision of placing the courts in a state of emergency, including the highly controversial result of postponing Netanyahu’s trial to May 24.
Previously, the Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel petitioned to revoke the state of emergency on the courts, calling it an unconstitutional power grab by Ohana to help Netanyahu escape justice on the back of the coronavirus crisis.
The movement said the postponement could severely harm the public’s faith in the rule of law.
The state’s response did not even mention Netanyahu’s trial and focused on the idea that the emergency order was coordinated with the courts.
A statement issued by the courts on Sunday appeared to support Ohana despite heavy criticism from center-left political parties as well as many former senior legal officials and academics. •
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