Israel Police plan to operate security cameras in the
passageways of the Old City in accordance with halachic
directives issued by gedolei haposkim, Major General
David Tzur, staff director of the Internal Security Ministry,
told Interior Committee Chairman Rabbi Moshe Gafni.
During the last two years cameras have been damaged by
residents of the eastern portion of the city. Several hundred
cameras are normally in operation 24 hours a day, seven days
a week, transmitting images to the Old City's Kishleh
Station, where police track potentially hostile
individuals.
For years many Jews making their way to or from the Kosel
Hama'arovi have avoided using these passageways on Shabbos
because the cameras automatically focus on anyone who
approaches them.
Several months ago Rabbi Gafni and Finance Committee Chairman
Rabbi Yaakov Litzman were given a tour of the Old City led by
Jerusalem Police, who told the two MKs about the severe
budgetary constraints on the monitoring system. As part of
his official duties Rabbi Gafni also discussed the matter
with officials at the Internal Security Ministry, raising the
halachic problem associated with operating the cameras on
Shabbos.
Rabbi Gafni and ranking police officers conferred with
gedolei haposkim who instructed them on how to modify
the cameras to avoid chilul Shabbos. In a letter sent
last week, Major General Tzur notified Rabbi Gafni of plans
to purchase a special computer program that would allow the
cameras to operate without incurring halachic problems. The
Knesset Finance Committee has already approved a one million-
shekel budget to cover the purchase of the program and to
replace the damaged camera equipment.
