Israel reportedly worried as US allows higher resolution satellite imagery

Israel is concerned over a US decision to rescind a rule that kept US companies from providing satellite imagery of Israel and the Palestinian territories at a sharper resolution, Reuters reports.

On June 25, the US Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office said it would allow imagery of objects as small as 40 centimeters, providing vastly clearer pictures than the two meters currently allowed.

According to the report, Israel fears the higher resolution images will give the country’s enemies intelligence about sensitive sites that could then come under attack.

The agency tells Reuters that images with a resolution lower than two meters are already available from non-American sources.

California-based Planet Labs, which offers on-demand satellite imagery, recently rolled out 50 centimeter resolution pictures. It tells Reuters it will “follow the new provisions for providing high resolution imagery of the region.”