Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to apply special surveillance measures to deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus is disturbing, especially for those who fear for their privacy and those concerned with "Big Brother" watching over Israeli citizens' every move.
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On the other hand, avoiding the use of the most effective tools we have for reducing the spread of the epidemic would be a gross dereliction of duty.
In the worst-case scenarios, the cost in lives would dwarf the number of Israelis killed in all our wars and by terrorists.
Our security forces have been given wide-ranging powers, with technological and intelligence capabilities virtually unrivaled around the world, to combat Arab terrorism and other threats. In dealing with the coronavirus, a potentially deadly enemy, Israel needs to show no less determination.
There is a natural tension between these two opposite poles: the saving of lives and prevention of fatal harm to the state and its economy vs. the upholding of civil rights and most importantly, the right to privacy.
In 1949, US Justice Robert Jackson reprimanded his fellow judges: "There is danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.'' The former Israeli Chief Justice Aharon Barak translated this phrase into Hebrew as: "Human rights are not a prescription for national suicide."
Unfortunately, this principle seemed at times to have been forgotten and neglected by Barak, to the point that former Supreme Court Chief Justice Asher Grunis felt it necessary to mention it in the first paragraph of his judgment on the Citizenship Law, which was one vote away from being struck down by the court. Had the law been disqualified, there would have been nothing to keep hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from actually exercising the "right of return" through family unification.
There is no doubt that where adherence to the right to privacy can lead to national suicide, the right to privacy, with all due respect, is to be relinquished.
Rights are designed to serve the lives of citizens, not the other way around. But there is no need to choose; we can have things both ways.
It is also possible to preserve the existence of the state and the lives of its citizens, while also minimizing the violation of privacy.
Close scrutiny by the Knesset is required over the use of such powerful tools by the security services. Towards this purpose, it is necessary to clearly define guidelines regarding the information collected, the length of time it will be kept, the identity of the persons who are allowed to access it and the measures taken to prevent abuse of the information collected.
The greatest enemies in times of crisis and epidemic are uncertainty, concern, mistrust and fear. The same government hand that authorizes the use of the Orwellian "Big Brother" tool must allow the Knesset and the public to oversee the use of these tools.
For this purpose, a national emergency government is needed, one in which the representatives of the broad public who did not put their trust in Netanyahu and his government will have their finger on the pulse.
Public concerns about abuse will be assuaged through cooperation. To this end, a functioning Knesset is needed with an active constitutional committee, in which representatives of the public, Knesset members and private experts of outside organizations will cooperate to reduce the violation of privacy.
With maturity and responsibility, we can create a situation in which Israelis enjoy maximal protection and still have confidence that these powers are not being abused.
Members of Knesset and elected officials, we are waiting for you to act.
