Google Street View has officially launched in Israel, providing images of religious sites and city streets in major Israeli cities Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.
Due to security issues, several sensitive sites will not be visible on the service, including the prime minister’s residence and the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Military officials expressed concern over the introduction of Street View in Israel, due to previous admission by Arab terror organizations that they had used internet services to attack Israel. Islamic Jihad in Gaza has stated that it used Google Earth, which shows images of locations from above, to fire rockets at Israel.
Israel is the first Middle Eastern country to permit Street View to film locations and display them online. Iraq’s National Museum is also viewable on Street View.
Beersheba, Nazareth and Eilat will soon be added to the service.