HIBAPRESS
The Israeli Knesset, in its first reading, approved the extension of an order that allows the army and the internal security service (Shin Bet) to breach the computer materials operating fixed cameras for a year, in a move that raises concerns about the expansion of digital surveillance to include Palestinians and Arab countries.
The decision, which was referred to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee to complete its discussion, grants the army and Shin Bet broad technical powers to interfere in camera systems and control their content or disable access to it, under the pretext of "protecting the workflow" and implementing "security tasks". Experts believe that this empowerment opens the door to access private places without adequate judicial supervision or notification of the system owners. Despite being presented as "temporary", human rights activists warn of the transformation of these exceptional powers into a permanent law, in light of its repeated extension for years, which makes the exception a rule and allows for institutionalized mass surveillance by law. Palestinian organizations concerned with digital rights warn that the Israeli surveillance policy historically targets Palestinians in the first place, which may make this law a tool to restrict freedoms and narrow journalistic and human rights work. Internationally, the move comes in conjunction with repeated warnings from organizations such as Amnesty International regarding the widespread use of surveillance technologies to suppress dissidents and journalists, in addition to technical reports that indicate the spread of advanced spying tools linked to Israeli companies that have been used to target activists and journalists, which prompted the United States to impose sanctions on some of them. Observers believe that the combination of the legislation to breach cameras internally and the export of spying tools externally reflects a growing trend in Israel towards normalizing digital surveillance as a political and security tool that transcends borders. In the end, this extension represents a new step towards consolidating the breach of digital privacy, amid the absence of real guarantees to protect rights and freedoms, especially for Palestinians and Arabs.
