Israel set to approve police surveillance without court order

Israel’s Knesset (parliament) is expected Monday to issue preliminary approval for a bill allowing police use of facial recognition surveillance cameras in public spaces without a court order.

The bill, sponsored by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, says the cameras are needed to “prevent, thwart or uncover serious crime and those involved in planning or carrying it out.” According to Times of Israel there is no oversight system in place to safeguard against abuse of authority.

Another provision in the bill retroactively legalizes the police’s Hawk Eye program which uses license plate recognition (LPR) cameras to track vehicles “just in case their vehicle is involved in a crime in the future.” Police reportedly maintain a massive database containing data on the movements of vehicles belonging to taxpayers across Israel. 

"In the context of biometric photo systems, placement and operation will be for the purpose of preventing, thwarting or detecting serious criminal offenses and detecting those involved in planning or committing serious criminal offenses,” adds the legislation, which is set to be approved by the Knesset Ministerial Committee for Legislation.

Critics point out, however, that the Israel Police is known to use AI surveillance technology to spy on private citizens even without a criminal pretext.

Last year it was revealed that Israel Police employed a powerful surveillance tool called Pegasus to spy on non-criminal private citizens. The law enforcement agency hacked into the personal phones of CEOs, politicians, the families of politicians, witnesses and protesters. Some of the demonstrators, ironically, were protesting mistreatment by police.

An investigation by the attorney general’s office concluded that the police had not broken the law.

But even the country’s top judges slammed the police last year for using yet another surveillance tool to spy on and search airport travelers. When they were ordered by a court to disclose the software for investigation, the police simply refused.

The software uses a secret artificial intelligence algorithm to profile and detain passengers at the airport who have no criminal history and provide no cause for suspicion. It gathers private information about citizens from government ministries, including databases from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Welfare, the Tax Authority and others. The algorithm then compiles the data, which may include socioeconomic status, marital status, relatives, etc. and matches them against a predetermined criminal profile. It is unclear what significance the algorithm assigns to certain data. 

If there is a match, even if there is no criminal history, the passenger is detained at the airport by police before passing through border control. The reason for the detention is known only to police officers, who then conduct a search of the passenger’s luggage and may also conduct an invasive body search. 

The program's existence was revealed during a recent trial involving one such detainee, but the police refused to provide the court with any details about the program. 

In May Israel Police purchased a surveillance tool without the required approval of the country’s attorney general.

Echo, spy software sold by Rayzone, can track the location of mobile phone users within one meter (3.3 feet). It accomplishes this by accessing an individual’s digital footprint which is left behind by anyone who uses the internet on their mobile phone. Locations can be pinpointed both in real time and in retrospect, according to Calcalist.

Using the tool would allow the police to bypass legal processes. Currently, police must obtain a court order which they then serve to cellular companies to gain access to an individual’s location data.

The police have already skirted the law, which requires them to obtain approval from the attorney general’s office prior to purchasing the software and before using it.

In March the Knesset approved new legislation that allows police to search private homes without a warrant if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the home contains illegal weapons or weapon parts.

Provisions of the law state police may search a home at will if a warrant cannot be obtained immediately and the search cannot be delayed, or if there is evidence such as security camera footage showing that a serious crime is being committed. 

Police who search the home must first receive authorization from a superintendent or officer of higher rank. If police officers seize any object which was not covered by the authorization, the matter may be adjudicated by a court, according to Haaretz.

The law, which is valid for one year, was passed with bipartisan support and illustrates the expanding authority the country’s law enforcement arms enjoy. As Israel Police Commissioner Koby Shabtai said in 2021, “We are a democratic country, but there is a limit.” Shabtai made the remarks when he recommended that the government shut down social media to temper civil unrest.