Hi-Tech Personal ID At Checkpoints

Jews of Judea/Samaria will receive a secret code easing their passage through checkpoints. Drivers of borrowed cars will have to wait in line for full inspection, together with potential terrorists.

With the ongoing construction of the partition wall alongside or atop the Green Line (separating Judea and Samaria from the rest of Israel), a new feature of life for many of the 250,000 residents of Yesha has become the passage through border-like checkpoint crossings as they travel to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the like.

When traffic is heavy, or when the security checks of Arab residents of the Palestinian Authority are tighter than usual, many maddening minutes are added to the daily commute. A more significant issue, however, is the danger involved in waiting in line with people who are suspected of having terrorist intentions.

A partial solution to these problems is about to go into effect in at least one checkpoint. However, while alleviating some problems, it may make another one worse.

The new system will work as follows: Eligible residents must register themselves and their cars with the army. As they arrive at a checkpoint, they must dial a toll-free number, enter their secret code, and then, assuming the system recognizes them, sail through the checkpoint undisturbed. Families must register all potential drivers of their car as such.

The new system will be implemented first, as of Dec. 31, at the Eliyahu Crossing, east of Kfar Saba, near Kokhav Yair and the Arab city of Kalkilye.

A potential problem with the new technology, some residents fear, is that Jewish drivers who cannot pass through the automated checkpoint for whatever reason will have to wait on line together with Arab cars that are being checked for potential terrorist intentions - thus endangering themselves and their passengers. Blocked drivers can include those who have no working cell phone on them, or who are driving a rented or borrowed car.

The army has informed all local security coordinators of the impending change, and has invited them to participate in a short course explaining its various details.

Arutz Sheva
12.11.06