Israel’s Attorney General last year confirmed the use of cell phone tracking technology by the Shin Bet security agency to track and threaten Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
The decision, which came Tuesday, came in for harsh criticism from the civil rights group that challenged the use of the technology. The group warned it would have a “horrifying effect” on the country’s Arab minority.
The attorney general’s decision came in response to a complaint about a series of text messages sent to hundreds of Palestinians last May at the height of one of the city’s most turbulent periods in years. At that time, Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli police at the Al Aqsa Mosque, using violence that sparked an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Using its tracking technology, the Shin Bet texted people determined to be in the area of the clashes, telling them “we will hold you accountable” for acts of violence.
The recipients were Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel. While some recipients had participated in the clashes, many others, such as people who lived, worked or bathed in the area, received the message in error, saying they were surprised or scared by the message.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a civil society group, filed a complaint with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s office, urging him to stop using the technology. It cited using the tool on a large group of people and the threatening language of the text.
In its response, the attorney general’s office acknowledged that there were problems with the message, both with the language and because the mass distribution contained unintended targets. But it said using the technology was a legitimate security tool and the security agency has revised its procedures to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
“Following discussions with us on this subject, lessons have been learned from the security service and guidelines have been formulated on various points with the aim of preventing recurrence of these kinds of problems,” the advisory said. It said the office had not planned any further intervention in the case.
Tuesday was the last day of Mandelblit’s six-year term. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, or ACRI, expressed disappointment at the ruling.
“They say they have the authority to continue sending these kinds of texts to people,” said Gil Gan-Mor, the group’s head of unit on human rights in the digital age. “We think differently.”
He said authorities have tools to investigate and prosecute people suspected of violence, but sending threatening messages is not the way to maintain security.
“Obviously, this will have a chilling effect, to say the least, on practicing legitimate activities, such as going to a protest or praying somewhere,” he said. The group was studying the decision and would decide in the coming days whether to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court, it added.
ACRI has previously filed legal objections to the government’s use of the same Shin Bet tracking technology as a contact tracing tool to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus early in the pandemic.
Israel’s Supreme Court eventually limited the tool’s use to specific cases, and studies have found it to be largely ineffective at identifying people with COVID-19.
