Tempest following PM's announcement on digital means of monitoring Corona patients • MK Horowitz in addressing the Supreme Court: "Serious violation of privacy and civil liberties" • Mendelblit: "Imposing various restrictions on measures to be implemented"
Nitzan Horowitz Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement on Saturday about the use of digital tools and technology to monitor Corona patients has sparked outrage among Knesset members and various organizations that have opposed the decision to use a radical and far-reaching move to deal with the Corona virus crisis.
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Knesset Member Nitzan Horowitz (Labor-Gesher-Meretz), in the evening, addressed the Avichai Mandelblit Presidential Office urgently demanding that these measures not be exercised without parliamentary and judicial supervision. Mandelblit answered the request.
On behalf of Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit, he said: "Following the request of the Prime Minister and the Shin Bet Health Ministry to take measures to help the Corona virus to save lives, the Attorney General examined a number of measures designed to help reduce and prevent the infection.
The announcement emphasized that, "in the legal context, it was decided to impose various restrictions on the measures that will be used, including aspects of their period of operation, legal supervision of the operation and use of the information collected. This is in order to reach the right balance between the relevant important interests. Also for the approval of the relevant Knesset committee.
In his address, MK Horowitz wrote: "Surveillance, retrieval, and monitoring of civilians, using sophisticated databases and technological means, can seriously harm basic privacy and civil liberties. That is why these measures are forbidden in democratic countries. Even in the current situation, such intrusive measures, overwhelmingly for masses of citizens, should not be used without proper supervision. Clear rules should also be set for the use of the information obtained, and as limited as possible. "
The request also reads: "I am urgently requesting that you prevent these measures from being implemented before they are approved and monitored by a Knesset committee. Close monitoring of the use of these measures by independent legal entities, headed by a supreme judge, should also be established.
Physicians for Human Rights also warned of the danger of monitoring Israeli residents through telephone pickup and GSS operation: "It is an extreme measure and has no justification when the prime minister himself does not even declare an emergency, which would have ensured a salary For all employees who are laid off or find the USSR and save businesses that are closing - and prevent financial hardship. From anyone who cares about the virus, it is best to take reasonable steps to protect medical staff or increase the number of examinations that public health doctors have long been calling for. The public concern for the character of the regime in Israel, ”the statement said The association.
The Movement for Quality Government also responded to the move: "Even during emergencies, we must not allow serious, disproportionate, and especially unrestricted, privacy and civil rights violations. We require the Prime Minister to specify exactly what steps will be taken to monitor civilians in the State of Israel, who will be the bodies, what will they do. With the information - and the validity of these new and severe measures. "
The Shin Bet says: "Further to the request of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health, the possibility of using the General Security Service's technological capabilities as part of the national effort to prevent the spread of the Corona epidemic is being considered. It should be emphasized that in any case the intention is not to use the said capabilities for enforcement or monitoring of isolation guidelines. "
