Israeli Gov't Approves Bill to Resume Surveillance of COVID-19 Patients Amid Soaring Cases

TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2020) The Israeli government on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would authorize the security services to phone-track COVID-19 patients amid rising daily numbers of coronavirus cases.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called in an emergency meeting after new coronavirus cases exceeded 450 in the last 24 hours.

"I have asked to accelerate the development of the digital application that is designed to achieve this goal. This will take time - weeks and I hope not months. Until then we are seeking to complete the legislation on the use of the digital tools of the ISA [Israel Security Agency].

We are monitoring this with 'on' and 'off' switches. I hope that we will not have to activate it," Netanyahu told the cabinet.

The bill will now proceed to the unicameral parliament for approval.

The ISA tracking program that uses cellphone and credit card data to monitor COVID-19 patients was already approved by the cabinet in March, but then scrapped after a court ruled that such surveillance must be regulated by a special law. ISA chief Nadav Argaman has vociferously opposed using his agency to monitor infected patients.