The head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s space programs, Ammon Harari, warned of possible security risks, following a US decision allowing American companies marketing satellite images to sell clearer images to Israeli and Palestinian areas.
Speaking to the Israel Radio, Harare said Monday that he believed the decision was aimed at easing international competition for US satellites used for commercial purposes, but added, "I don't think they (the Americans) asked us in advance."
He continued, "We are in the process of studying the stipulated exactly and what the nature of intentions specifically, and what we can respond to in the end."
"We always prefer to be photographed with the lowest possible clarity. It is always best for our pictures to be blurred and inaccurate," he added.
A US legal regulation issued in 1997 known as the "Benjamin Amendment Amendment" requires that pictures taken of Israeli and Palestinian areas in services such as Google Earth not show bodies less than two meters away.
Israel used to say that this standard prevents its enemies from exploiting these capabilities to spy on its sensitive sites.
However, on June 25, the US Office of Regulatory Affairs for Commercial Remote Sensing in the United States said it would allow for a visibility of 0.4 meters.
The office said in a statement to Reuters, that a number of external sources already produce and distribute images less than two meters for Israel.
Settlement pictures
The clearer images will help track the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Activist Hagit Ovran of the Peace Now movement, which opposes and monitors Israeli settlement activity, welcomed the US move. She said the unclear photos "are difficult to know if what you see is a new house or a chicken coop".
"When this change comes into effect, we will follow the new criteria to provide very clear pictures" of the Israeli and Palestinian areas, said Planet, which specializes in selling satellite imagery.