The Israeli companies’ security conference that ended in New York yesterday did not seek only to market Israeli know-how, technologies and services to US customers, but also to fulfil the mission undertaken by many Israeli security experts, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, to re-educate the US public by inspiring it with Israeli-style awareness of security considerations.
Speeches by Israeli security professionals at the conference revealed a surprising common denominator: a shameless longing for a Big Brother world. The motto was: Exchange a few civil liberties for a lot of security. The question of how far to go in foregoing civil liberties elicited different answers from different spokesmen. No-one made 1984-style suggestions, but the Israeli message to the audience of US decision-makers definitely had something Orwellian about them.
”Thought must be given to imposing some limitations on our liberties,” Barak, who delivered the keynote speech said. “Alongside changes in immigration rules on the international level, the fight against money laundering and drug smuggling – directly connected to terrorism – it is necessary to limit civil liberties. The authorities must be allowed access to bank accounts and telephone conversations, so as to be able to wage an efficient struggle against terrorism.”
Another important speaker at the conference was former General Security Service Jacob Perry, who is now CEO of cellular telephone company Cellcom. He said that terrorism should not just be fought with state-of-the-art technology, but through education, psychology and legislation that institutionalizes the abolition of some civil liberties that were taken for granted before September 11. Perry conceded, however, that it would be difficult to educate the American people to forego what it considers as its rights.
ICTS International NV (Nasdaq: ICTS) president and CEO Lior Zouker offered an illustration of loss of rights on a minor scale. In an interview with “Globes” and in an ICTS presentation at the conference, Zouker said that the greater the amount of information on aircraft passengers the safer the flight.
Zouker predicted that in the future a smart card would be issued to passengers wishing to cut short the waiting time in the long lines in US airports. Smart card holders will have to provide personal information, like that offered by people applying for credit cards.
Zouker set forth the concept of security credit, meaning that the more information a passenger supplies about himself, the higher his security credit.
Many of the products Israeli security companies are offering US customers are based on public consent to sweeping invasion of privacy. StarTen Technologies, for instance, presented a bioguard ID based on biometrics data, and an aircraft pass featuring a forgery-proof photograph of its bearer.
Other companies’ fare was more traditional. The Mer Group, which took care to point out that it was in charge of protecting the President’s Residence and the Prime Minister’s residence, offered complex systems for monitoring buildings and facilities. Magal Security Systems (Nasdaq: MAGS) presented Jetlock, a sophisticated Denver boot for aircraft.
SCS touted the glorious track record of its managers: Meir Dagan, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s close adviser on terrorism; Yossi Sidkai, who was anti-terrorism chief in the IDF’s Intelligence Corps; Ilan Katzir, formerly a military consultant on terrorism in the Prime Minister’s Office, and others.
Beit El, a company set up by German Protestants from Zichron Yaakov, manufactures systems for water and air purification in case of a chemical or biological warfare attack. The company aroused a lot of interest, possibly due to a sympathetic report by the “New York Times”.
It is still too early to assess the success of the conference, but there are signs that Israeli companies established many initial ties with potential customers. Magal, for instance, set up a significant connection with a major global company.
Israel's Economic Minister for North America Zohar Peri, who initiated the conference, his first project since assuming his post after September 11, told “Globes” he had done his utmost for the conference to run smoothly, and that he had not been disappointed.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 20 February, 2002