Lawmakers voted 10-0 on Wednesday in favor of the final reading of a government bill authorizing the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet to covertly break into civilian security camera systems, extending by one year a temporary measure passed in the wake of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.

The passage of the law drew widespread criticism from rights groups, who charge that it upends legal protections and violates privacy rights.

The law initially permitted hacking into security camera back-end technology to prevent or thwart access by nefarious actors only if the visual material endangered national security or IDF operations connected to the war in Gaza. However, the latest extension decouples this authority from an ongoing state of “significant military operations.”

The bill’s explanatory notes state that “the severity of the latest cyber threats and the risks posed by them… the need for additional tools to properly deal with enemy elements’ access to visual information produced by stationary cameras remains,” a claim apparently given additional weight by the recent hacking of former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Telegram account by Iranian hackers.

However, this extension, especially in light of the recent ceasefire in Gaza, has led to significant criticism from legal experts and human rights advocates, who argue that the law, as written, harms both due process and citizens’ right to privacy.

“This is very troubling legislation that, for the first time, grants the IDF authority to operate within civilian property and civilian........

© The Times of Israel