Retired IDF Lt. Col. Meir Indor of the Almagor Terror Victims Association is calling on law enforcement authorities to take legal action against photographers who document soldiers in Judea and Samaria against their wishes, particularly when the images are also published outside Israel.
According to Indor, in recent weeks, foreign and Israeli photographers working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority or anti-Israel groups from various countries have been operating in the area, documenting soldiers at checkpoints and defensive positions.
He said that some of the soldiers stationed at these locations belong to intelligence units and are deployed to reinforce forces during periods of heightened tension.
Almagor maintains that the photography warrants attention both for operational security reasons and because of the rights of the soldiers and police officers being filmed. It further claims that in some cases, the footage is used to threaten soldiers with legal proceedings outside Israel.
Indor said: “Soldiers and police officers should be briefed on their rights and on their ability to enforce a demand that they not be filmed and to immediately stop the photography. A photographer who refuses the soldiers’ demand and continues filming, whether secretly or openly, should know that he may be detained for questioning and face legal proceedings for violating operational security requirements and infringing on privacy rights, which are protected under Israeli law."
According to Indor, law enforcement authorities should provide soldiers with tools to deal with this type of filming and consider legal action when a photographer continues documenting them after being instructed to stop.