Israel must increase its use of wire-tapping in order to effectively fight crime, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Wednesday.
“Without wire-tapping there is no fight on organized crime and no real fight against corruption in government,” he told the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
The committee is investigating the issue in the aftermath of the Haim Ramon affair,
during which the Tel Aviv District Prosecution admitted to monitoring the conversations of the complainant, her commanding officer and the head of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s
Bureau.
According to data obtained by the committee, in the past year more than 1,200 phone lines were tapped in Israel. During its investigation the committee is expected to summon Knesset members who were tapped, including Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
“Comparative data will also show that there is no excessive use of wire-tapping in the country,” Mazuz continued. “Tens of thousands of investigations were conducted in Israel last year, but less than 800 crime suspects were tapped. This is an insignificant amount.”
State Prosecutor Eran Shendar also supported the use of wire-tapping, saying “A decrease in the use of the information gathering tool known as wire-tapping will hinder our ability to fight corruption and bring criminals to justice.”
The Constitution Committee operates under the assumption that wire-tapping constitutes a basic violation of Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
“Unfortunately, lately we have witnessed repeated failures related to wire-tapping,” Committee Chairman Menahem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) said.
“I may reach the conclusion that amendments to the Wire-Tapping Law are required. The Haim Ramon affair put us in an absurd position, and I am baffled over the near-automatic agreement between the judicial and police systems on the need for wire-tapping.”
The committee will examine the legal basis for the use of wire-tapping and the manner in which it is being used by law enforcement and judicial authorities.
Ben-Sasson said the committee would submit its findings by April 2007.
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