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Newsletter : 9fax0408.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN April 8, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 67
Ambassador Calls Extramarital Relationship Proper
By Alex Belida (VOA-Johannesburg)
Israel's Ambassador to South Africa has confirmed he has been
recalled to Jerusalem to face questioning about his contacts with
a female South African army officer. News reports in Israel have
alleged Ambassador Uri Oren had an affair with a female
intelligence officer.
But South Africa's military says its investigation has established
the woman in question had nothing to do with intelligence nor did
she have access to any sensitive information. It also says the
officer did not behave improperly and no action will be taken
against her. The South African military says it considers the
matter closed.
The Israeli envoy, in an interview with the South African Press
Agency, says he is surprised at his recall to Jerusalem because
he, too, thought the matter had been put to rest. He says he was
questioned by Israeli authorities last month and denied there
had been anything improper about what he terms the social contacts
he and his wife had with the South African officer.
Oren is quoted as suggesting someone in Israel who does not like
him is playing political games. He says he will probably travel to
Jerusalem next week.
"Cellular Spying"
By IsraelWire
The Israeli police have revealed a new method for catching
criminals involves cellular phones. More and more, evidence is
being brought before courts based on itemization logs of cellular
phone calls, which can destroy false alibis given by criminals.
"The cell phone has become a little spy," attorney Avigdor Feldman.
"It can reveal where you are at any moment. Technology has done
away with the need for spies. 'Big Brother' is watching you every
minute through cellular phone signals."
Among criminal lawyers, jokes are being told containing a grain of
truth. One joke tells of criminals who get together to plan their
next crime, and the first thing they do is remove the batteries
from their cell phones.
Cellular phone conversations are transmitted by radio waves. There
are hundreds of antennas country-wide with each covering a specific
area. Any given point is generally located by radio signals of
varying strength, from antennas in various areas. The antenna from
the area of the strongest signal serves the cell phone user.
As a cell phone user moves out of one area into another, he is
automatically transferred to the service of another antenna. The
police have begun to use this technological advance as an important
investigative technique.
The court system has also begun to understand that cell phone
signal logs are useful as evidence. Retired Judge Binyamin Cohen,
former chief justice of the Tel Aviv District Court, stated: "When
a technological advance reaches the courts, at first the judges
call in expert witnesses. After the advance becomes accepted, there
is no longer any problem."
Criminal lawyers have some reservations about the use of cellular
phone records. According to attorney Avraham Fechter, the law does
not advance as fast as technology, and it must learn to adapt to
the new advances. Cell phone signals can pinpoint the location of
a cell phone, but do not prove who was using the phone.
Fechter knows of a case in which someone rented 20 cellular phones
for his employees' use, and every phone is registered under his
name. In such a case, radio signals can be received from all over,
none of them proving anything about anyone's whereabouts. Phone
signal records can be important as evidence, but only in
conjunction with other evidence.
Fechter further pointed out that today's criminals often have more
advanced technologies at their disposal than the police. On one
hand, criminals may begin to be careful not to use cell phones
while committing crimes. On the other hand, they can give their
cell phones to someone else to use from a different location while
they commit serious crimes, to create an alibi.
The use of cellular phone records also raises the ethical problem
of contravening the right to privacy. According to criminal lawyer
Tzion Amir, police use of cell phone signal records intensifies the
worry about invasion of privacy.
He says that the war on crime is important, but that invasion of privacy can become a dangerous thing. One can never know when a method is being used in an unfair or illegal way. There are cases in which police used information for private, and not official, use.
Amir stated that the cellular phones have become "private radio
stations" which can be used to follow any phone user, and to know
almost everything about him. People have a basic right to privacy.
The time may come when law-abiding citizens will rebel against the
establishment's use of technology to abuse the right to live a
private life.
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