Israel\'s Netanyahu accused of exploiting virus crisis
Jerusalem: With the Israeli government enacting a series of emergency measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing accusations that he is exploiting the crisis to entrench himself in power and undermining the country's democratic foundations.
The new coronavirus has spread to more than 100 countries, infected more than 217,000 people worldwide and killed more than 8,700. For most people, it causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.
With the numbers quickly rising, authorities have issued a series of tough guidelines that have brought the country to a standstill. People have been instructed to stay home, tens of thousands are in home quarantine and foreigners have been banned from entering the country.
Most controversially, the Israeli government instructed the shadowy Shin Bet internal security service to start deploying the agency's phone surveillance technology to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Israel by tracking the moves of the infected.
Israel uses phone surveillance in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying it's an important tool to prevent attacks on Israelis, but critics say it's also aimed at maintaining tight control.
Many of the measures are not unique to Israel. In neighboring Jordan, King Abdullah II has shut the country's court system and parliament to control the spread of the virus. Abdullah, who is not elected, appears to have won wide public support for his handling of the crisis.
He said there would be “maximum oversight” to protect privacy concerns.
“The last thing I will do is harm democracy,” he said.
The liberal Haaretz daily responded Wednesday with a lead editorial titled “An Epidemic of Surveillance.”
“Under the cover of the battle against the spread of the coronavirus, Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concentrating more and more power in his hands, with neither balances nor supervision,” it wrote.