Petition against GSS defendants rejected: "No disproportionate violation of the right to privacy has been proven" | Israel Today

The High Court today (Thursday) rejected the petition against the government's decision to use the GSS to assist in the effort to stop the spread of the omicron, the new corona strain, through telephone location.

The petition was submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Adalah organization and the Physicians for Human Rights Association.

In his decision, Vice President Neil Handel, with the consent of Justices George Kara and Ofer Grosskopf, wrote:

In the ruling, the judges explained that "these are regulations created ad hoc to address the emergence of the omicron in our country, and limited the use of the GSS 'technological tools to combat this variant only." "This is a short-term arrangement, intended to provide an appropriate and immediate response to the new threat, but does not purport to outline a permanent arrangement and 'circumvent' the legislature's belief in determining such sensitive arrangements."

Judge Handel also wrote: "I did not really find in the first line of argument of the petitioners, regarding the 'violation' of the assessments of this court in the previous incarnations of the issue of spells. The first issue of identifications dealt with the legality of the organization's consent, and does not contain any determination as to the possibility of installing emergency regulations. The picture created by the appearance of the omicron is completely different from the one before the court at the time: it is a new variant, which at this stage is suspected of being able to circumvent, to one degree or another, the immune protection of all that entails in terms of risk. Of the omicron so that there are grounds for claiming that immediate assistance with GSS measures will make it possible to deal quickly with the spread of the variant. "

Handel also addressed the issue of primary legislation, saying that "it should not be overlooked that the preparation of legislation and the completion of legislative procedures also take time. At the same time, primary legislation does not pose an extraordinary difficulty. "

The goal: to stop the infection at the beginning

As you may recall, the Ministry of Health explained that stopping infection chains quickly and effectively, when they are at the beginning, is essential to prevent the outbreak of the new strain in the country.

For example, a person who was found to be infected with the new strain had the day before been next to several people in line at the supermarket.

There is no interaction between them and they do not know each other, so even after he knows he is infected he can not warn them.

GSS personnel can locate them retroactively and send them to solitary confinement before infecting more people.

On November 28, the government approved emergency regulations, and two days later approved a draft piece of legislation to replace those regulations when it submitted, in an abbreviated procedure, the "General Security Service Accreditation Bill to assist in the national effort to reduce the spread of the new corona virus."

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