Israeli attorney general upholds Shin Bet use of mobile phone tracking

Following a complaint from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the country's attorney general has said the Shin Bet security agency's use of mobile phone tracking technology to monitor and threaten Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque in May 2021 was a legitimate security tool, Josef Federman reports at ABC News. Shin Bet sent a text message to both Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem and Palestinian citizens of Israel who were determined to be in the area of the protests, which helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, telling them they would be held accountable for acts of violence. Many of the recipients had not participated in the protests, but lived, worked, or prayed in the area and said they were surprised or scared by the message. However, the AG also said Shin Bet would revise both the language and the breadth of distribution of future messages. ACRI is considering an appeal.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-upholds-surveillance-technology-protesters-82628174

Writer: Josef Federman
Publication: AP at ABC News
Publication date: 2022-02-02