Contracting companies employ Arabs from the Palestinian Authority in installing security cameras alongside the highways in Judea and Samaria, providing them with unauthorized access to secret information about the system, the Lavi Organization reported Monday night.
One of the main security components used by the IDF on the roads of Judea and Samaria is a complex network of security cameras installed along roads and at intersections. The system includes real cameras, dummy cameras, and concealed cameras. Obviously, knowledge about which camera is real and where clandestine cameras are hidden would be valuable to the enemy. Hence the need for clearance – which the workers in question do not possess.
In fact, according to the Lavi report, none of the Arab workers, all of them residents of the Palestinian Authority, have been vetted by security officials in the Defense Ministry or the Shin Bet.
This means that workers without security clearance—never mind their nationality—are exposed regularly to sensitive security information the Lavi report stresses. The fact that it is also Arab residents of the city of Hebron—a hotbed of Hamas illegal activity—are employed in constructing the camera network is outright shocking.
“This is a life-threatening failure, and a serious blow to the settlers’ security, resulting from negligent conduct,” Lavi said in a statement, adding, “We call on senior Defense Ministry officials to act immediately to stop this perilous oversight, and prevent the leaking of life-endangering classified information to hostile elements.”
“In addition, we demand an urgent investigation of all the individuals who have been exposed to the camera array and to verify whether this classified information has already been diverted into hostile hands. It may still be possible to prevent the next murderous attack which would be based on leaked sensitive information about the cameras”
Responding to the report, the Ministry of Defense said that the Palestinian Authority workers are only doing non-classified work exclusively on the infrastructure, and they are not installing the cameras themselves. The workers received all the necessary permits from relevant security sources, and any classified work on the cameras is being done only by those with proper security clearance.