The Defense Ministry plans to use software that analyses data gathered from mobile phones to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters on Monday that the "coronameter" would need approval from the cabinet – likely to be given – as well as an assessment of privacy issues from the attorney general, who has the power to block it. But it could be operational within 48 hours of getting the go-ahead.
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Israel already tests around 5,000 people a day for the new virus, which can cause respiratory failure but also be present for several days without causing symptoms and imposes a strict quarantine on those found to have it.
It hopes soon to double the number of tests. To help it decide who to test, it is using military-level surveillance to tracks civilians' movements - prompting complaints about invasion of privacy from rights groups.
So far, Israel has recorded 4,695 cases of the virus and 16 deaths. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to self-quarantine after a parliamentary aide tested positive for the virus. He later tested negative for COVID-19.
Bennett said the cellphone tracking and geo-location data currently being used were no longer effective in finding the most likely carriers.
According to Israeli media, the system assigns a rating of 1 to 10 to the likelihood that a person is carrying the virus. This is updated in real-time and could, for example, jump if someone visits a grocery store where carriers have been identified.
Israeli media said the software had been developed in cooperation with NSO.
NSO declined to comment and Bennett said he would not "announce who and what, because there are also complex elements in this context".
Bennett said that, while not perfect, the new software was the best option available to find likely carriers.
