PM rejects criticism of government’s decision to allow mass surveillance

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected criticism of his cabinet’s decision to bypass the Knesset and unilaterally approve a contentious proposal to allow security services to track carriers of the coronavirus and those required to be in quarantine, arguing that not doing so would have cost Israeli lives.

Rival MKs Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, of the Blue and White party, had accused the government of a power grab by passing such a dramatic measure without the parliamentary oversight that Netanyahu had promised when the concept was first proposed.

“As the pandemic is spreading at a tremendous rate, delaying the use of these tools by even one hour could lead to the deaths of a great many Israelis, as occurred with the deaths of thousands in Italy and other places around the world,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

“As the discussion in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee was delayed and could have taken many more days, Prime Minister Netanyahu acted quickly, together with the Health Ministry and attorney general, in order to allow the immediate use of the digital tools that can slow the spread of the pandemic in Israel and to save many civilians’ lives,” his office says.

The PMO says the government’s approval for the contentious surveillance program will only last for 14 days, during which the Knesset can comment on it.