Israel redeploys spy company to track virus situations as numbers rise
02 July, 2020
Israel's parliament exceeded a regulation Wednesday enabling the government to use its domestic security agency to monitor coronavirus infections, as case figures surged again after a good lull.
The law, offered the 3rd and final reading by 53-38, limits the utilization of the Shin Bet's surveillance technologies to three weeks and cases "where an epidemiological investigation cannot be completed otherwise".
The federal government had approved a similar measure in mid-March at the height of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, and then own it blocked by Israel's top court pending new legislation.
The measure, the facts which were kept secret, was then challenged in Israel's top court, which ruled that it should be formalized in regulation or dropped.
The government at first chose not to force forward with legislation and the measure was discontinued on June 10 as infection rates dropped.
But after nearly a month of growing infection numbers, Primary Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tabled a good bill the other day, with a team of ministers appointed to oversee the measure and evaluate its need.
Zvi Hauser, chairman of the parliament's foreign and defense committee, which well prepared the bill because of its second and third readings, said ahead of the last vote that "unfortunately" there is currently "no civilian solution".
Israel, with a human population of around 9 million, announced its first novel coronavirus circumstance on February 21.
Since that time, it has confirmed a lot more than 26,021 infections including 321 deaths, with 980 new cases during the past 24 hours.
Use of the protection agency's phone-tracking abilities had been criticized by NGOs due to a great unjustified violation of personal privacy.
Shin Wager chief Nadav Argaman has also regularly urged cabinet to look for an alternative.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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