Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, the Civil Service Commissioner, has issued a new directive for Civil Service employees, Globes reports, prohibiting them from taping conversations with colleagues or employers, other than in exceptional cases. The new directive will be incorporated into the Civil Service rules, and breaching it will be considered a significant offense.
"Government officials may not record other government officials, regardless of whether one of them is in a position of subordination to the other, unless the person being recorded consents to it," states the directive.
A government employee may henceforth only record a colleague or superior without the other's consent if, for example, "the employee making the recording has reasonable grounds for making the recording, for one of the following reasons: revealing abusive behavior in the workplace; revealing moral failures in the workplace."
The directive adds that, "breach of this rule will be considered a disciplinary offense."
In general, Israeli law permits a person to record another person without his consent and even without his knowledge, if the person making the recording is one of the parties to the conversation or if the words are directed to him, or if at least one of the parties has given his consent.