The government's decision to revive tracking of COVID patients using the Shin Bet security agency is a serious mistake. It is not the Shin Bet's job to keep tabs on citizens who should be in self-isolation. It's no coincidence that former Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman opposed the move and current director Ronen Bar tried to persuade the government not to make his organization shoulder the task. It's no coincidence that the High Court of Justice discussed this matter back in March and limited the government's use of this tool. It's also no coincidence that no other country is doing this. What's more, it turns out that the results of the tracking were highly imprecise, and people were receiving mistaken warnings.
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There is a difference between caution and hysteria. The government must find other ways of ensuring that quarantine is observed, and throw the idea of making the Shin Bet enforce it on the ash heap of history.
Misuse of public funds?
A State Comptroller's report published in 1988 included very serious criticism of political appointments in government companies. The comptroller argued that people were being appointed to boards of directors, as heads of governing councils, and directors-general of government companies whose main qualification was belonging to a certain party. Five years later, the Advisory Committee on Senior Civil Service Appointments was established.
The attorney-general appointed the committee chair, and the definition of a "political appointment" was shaped by former Attorney-General Meni Mazuz (who later became a Supreme Court justice). Mazuz wrote: "A political appointment is an appointment that leads to a concern that it could cause public resources to be exploited to promote personal/political interests."
This committee disqualified former minister Amir Peretz from serving as chairman of the governing board of the Israel Aerospace Industries, due to his connections with Defense Minister Benny Gantz. But these ties have nothing to do with the definition of a political appointment. Peretz left the Labor Party, is not a member of any other political organization, and only someone whose suspicions know no bounds could expect he would be serving some political official. The positions he previous held made him much more qualified for the job than many other people.
The government's decision to reject the committee's recommendation was a difficult one, but the instructions to the committee need to be adjusted, given previous decisions. To disqualify a qualified candidate from taking on a role because of his or her political ties there must be a much more convincing reason than a mere whiff of concern. The fact that a person is a politician should not be enough.
Who do you think you are?
Back to surveillance by the Shin Bet. Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Eli Avidar's opposition to the government's decision about Shin Bet tracking of COVID patients is justified, but his behavior in the cabinet meeting is unforgiveable. He can, of course, speak out against a cabinet proposal that is brought to the table, and he can try to convince his fellow cabinet members that they are making a mistake, but the moment the decision is made – he shares the collective responsibility for it until he resigns. Instead, he spoke to the head of the Shin Bet in an unacceptable manner, and informed the prime minister – who shouted at him – that he would say what he wanted, like a child disrupting the class. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, annoyed, turned to the angry minister and used a phrase that he appeared to have lifted from somewhere else, "Who do you think you are?!?" Then the issue was dropped.
It reminded me of the story about a husband who returns home unexpectedly and finds his beloved wife in the arms of a strange man. He starts shouting, until his wife manages to ask him, "Do you know who bought you the red car? Do you know where the winter coat you like so much came from? Do you know where the new pen you like so much came from?" And the husband says, "Cover him up, the last thing I need is for him to catch cold!"
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