Israel Practices Competitive Spying On Random Palestinian Civilians

In November, the Washington Post published an investigation exposing the IDF’s massive use of the system on the Palestinians in the West Bank. According to the expose’, the details of Palestinians unconnected to terrorism, about whom there is no intelligence, are uploaded to the system. The soldiers are required to take the photos of randomly chosen Palestinians with their cell phones, and upload their details to the system. The article noted that according to estimates, the system holds the photos of thousands of Palestinians – including children and the elderly.

A group of combat soldiers who recently began operational deployment in the West Bank protested the quota demand to their commanders. One of the combat soldiers who spoke to Haaretz claimed that the requirement turns the expansion of the database into the soldiers’ main mission, and comes at the expense of protecting the public for which they are stationed. Some of the soldiers feel that this activity, when directed at Palestinians, is against their conscience. After the soldiers’ appeal the commanders responded with a clarification message, reiterating the original directive.

Soldiers required to carry out the mission told Haaretz that the directive stems from a competition in Central Command for the most uploads to the system, and that it is important to the commanders to show their strength to the senior Central Command brass.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in response that it can‎’t discuss the military’s “operational and intelligence capabilities,” but said it was making “efforts to reduce the harm to the Palestinian population’s fabric of life” are part of its security activity.