Netanyahu Weighs Renewing Shin Bet Tracking of Coronavirus Patients as Cases in Israel Rise

As the number of coronavirus cases in Israel grows, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering resuming measures to allow the Shin Bet secret service to track confirmed and suspected cases, sources familiar with the issue told Haaretz.

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The proposed legislation would let the government use the security service's geolocation capabilities to identify locations where confirmed patients have been and other people they may have come in contact with, based on their cellphone data.

According to a report released Saturday by the National Center for Information and Knowledge in the Battle Against the Coronavirus, Israel is entering its second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. The government agency called for more aggressive measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said on Saturday that should cases keep rising, Netanyahu "will ask to reexamine the use of digital measures."

Legislation on employing Shin Bet tracking has been frozen since early June, and the government is still in the process of seeking civilian alternatives.