Will Be Charged With Dealing With Safety And Security Issues

The Israeli government has established a special task force charged with dealing with safety and security issues related to drones, according to media reports.

The task force was unveiled on January 1 at a meeting of the Knesset’s State Control Committee. The Times of Israel reports that it will have a dedicated budget and will be led by the Israeli air force.

The task force is expected to take six months to determine operating procedures for drones. At the end of that period, they will report back to the committee with recommendations about whether regulations on UAVs should be put it place.

However, Committee chair MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) said that the timeline was not reasonable since the National Security Council has been studying the issue for the past two and a half years. "We’re now told that that in another six months a decision will be made whether to regulate or not,” she said. "Have you taken into account that an attack is likely to happen during that period? Why are you so slow?"

The task force was formed following the November publication of a highly critical report by the state comptroller, which accused regulators and security entities of not confronting the threat to public safety represented by drones, of which there are some 20,000 in the hands of Israeli civilians.

Because drones flown for recreational purposes are not required to be registered in Israel, there is information available on only about 1.4 percent of the drones estimated to be operating in in that country.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report