If you use Google maps on your Android or iOS device, you can now get Waze traffic reports integrated with your maps... but not in Israel.
The traffic tab of Google Maps' Android and iOS versions now incorporates real-time traffic incidents reports from Waze users.
"This
means when Wazers report accidents, construction, road closures and
more on Waze, the updates will also appear on the Google Maps app for
Android and iOS in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France,
Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, UK and the US," Google said
in its blog.
...
Meanwhile, the Waze app for Android and iOS now supports Google Search,
and Wazers will have access to even more search results when navigating.
The Waze Map Editor now includes Google Street View and satellite
imagery to build out the map and make it easier to correct map errors
reported by the community.
Yes, we're used to this sort of thing. Most of the technology developed in Israel is available abroad before it's available here.
Chairman of the Kiryat Arba local council Malachi Levinger commented:
"The introduction of Google Street View in Kiryat Arba indicates the
strengthening of international legitimacy for the communities of Judea
and Samaria."
I wish it did. Unfortunately, it is far more likely that the pictures will be used by terrorists to map out the town (and other towns) for terror attacks (God forbid), and that when the pictures are updated (as they are from time to time) they will be used by the 'international community' to monitor 'settlement activity.'
Google Street View was launched in Israel last April. Users can use
the photographs to see what a particular location looks like, as if they
were actually standing at that spot. The process takes a few weeks for
photographing and a few months to seamlessly “sew” the pictures together
to create a continuous panorama in all directions.
Jerusalem, Tel
Aviv and Haifa were the first three cities to be mapped out using the
new technology. Afterwards, Google Maps expanded to include smaller
cities, as well as a concerted effort to map holy sites, archeological
sites, historical sites and natural wonders such as the Kinneret and
Maktesh Ramon.
It appears Kiryat Arba was next on the list, after
speculation that Google cars have been spotted in other West Bank
settlements as well.
I am pretty sure that when I posted this on Friday, both Jerusalem and White City Tel Aviv were part of Israel. Unfortunately, I did not do a screen capture then. Now look what they've done.
Yes, you're seeing correctly. Jerusalem is no longer part of Israel.
As a holy city for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem has always been of great symbolic importance. Among its 220 historic monuments, the Dome of the Rock stands out: built in the 7th century, it is decorated with beautiful geometric and floral motifs. It is recognized by all three religions as the site of Abraham's sacrifice. The Wailing Wall delimits the quarters of the different religious communities, while the Resurrection rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses Christ's tomb.
Makes it sound like the Wailing Wall is just a wall, doesn't it? (And no, the only thing it delimits is the Temple Mount).
Journalist and new media consultant Yossi Dorfman revealed in his blog that a secret Tel Aviv-area base has been fully exposed by Google's new service. The images allow users to see the guard post at the entrance to the base, several soldiers inside it, and vehicles parked in the base with their license plates clearly visible.
A veteran officer who saw the images said their availability on the Internet constitutes security damage for Israel.
"This is a first-rate screw up…much can be learned from these images, and someone in the IDF whose job it is to monitor this issue screwed up here," the officer said.
Google Street View launched in Israel on Thursday - three days earlier than planned. For now, it's only Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and special locations, but I can tell you that they already made it to my little neck of the woods.
In the first stage, the service only offers street views of Israel's three largest cities - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. In addition, several specific sites in other parts of the country can be seen as well. These include the Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva, the Mini Israel miniature park and Kibbutz Merhavia in northern Israel.
The Internet giant deployed its Street View vehicles last September on the streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Mitzpeh Ramon in the central Negev and even the Kinneret and the Dead Sea.
Israel officials authorized the Street View cameras after three months of negotiations to define certain conditions to protect privacy.
In accordance with its promise, Google did not reveal license plate numbers and home addresses before publishing the images online. These items, as well as the faces of people on city’s streets, have been obscured.
Anti-Israel protesters to follow Google Street View vehicles
For a long time, Israel resisted Google Street View. Now, it's being allowed in here with conditions. But one of the conditions is that the route has to be published in advance. And our Israel-hating Leftists are taking advantage of that requirement to give the impression that there are non-stop protests in Israel against the 'occupation.'
The initiative is being promoted through a new Facebook group which attempts to coordinate the demonstrations alongside the route of Google’s vehicles.
The group’s organizers state that due to Google’s obligation to publish the route of the vehicle, in coordination with Ministry of Justice, there should be no problem finding out exactly where the vehicles will travel. Thus, it will be possible to hold protests along the route.
The initiative comes on the heels of a Ministry of Justice decision last weekend to allow Google to implement its Street View service in Israel.
Google Street View makes use of a vehicle equipped with special cameras that capture a 360 degree view of the surroundings, allowing site users to “travel” along different routes.
Don't any of these people have to work for a living? Oh wait, they do work - for various European governments. Maybe the Ministry of Justice ought to reconsider or someone should start a Facebook group for counter-protesters.
Google Earth to give higher-resolution photos of Israel in 2013
Google Earth gives remarkably clear photos of locations around the World.
Let's go to the videotape.
There's one place where Google Earth gives less clear views: Israel. But that could be changing in 2013.
Israel's low-resolution e-presence can be traced back to the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act. Tucked inside the 2,870-page bill is a two-bullet point section titled "SEC. 1064. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DETAILED SATELLITE IMAGERY RELATING TO ISRAEL" (page 2653).
...
While we have previously reported on the U.S. government's Google Earth unease, Section 1064, also known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, limits zoomed-in satellite imagery of Israel. Because the section stipulates that imagery can be "no more detailed or precise than satellite imagery of Israel that is available from commercial sources," the amendment has a material impact on "non-federal" entities, like Google.
"The images in Google Earth are sourced from a wide range of both commercial and public sources," a Google spokesperson told Mother Jones. "We source our satellite imagery from U.S.-based companies who are subject to US law ... which limits the resolution of imagery of Israel that may be commercially distributed."
These laws are policed by NOAA's Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an article in the Washington Reports on Middle East Affairs offers a more specific working explanation.
"Letters sent by NOAA to every major U.S. commercial satellite firm were widely interpreted to mean that the baseline for what is commercially available was one-meter digital imagery," the article said. "The widely held belief in the industry was that the Kyl-Bingaman amendment would not be enforced against U.S. firms that didn't collect digital imagery of Israel below the one-meter threshold, which none of the major U.S. firms planned to do."
A "one-meter threshold" means that U.S. companies, such as Google, could provide images with no higher resolution than one pixel representing one square meter. Whether that threshold applies, however, to disputed territories—such as Gaza Strip—remains unclear, though, Mother Jones reports that Human Rights Watch has yet to provide "detailed imagery of the Gaza Strip in its reports." At the bottom of the page I have included two images from Google Earth: The first is from the Gaza Strip, the second Tripoli. You be the judge.
While U.S. companies—regulated by Section 1064—currently lead the world in satellite imaging, that may soon change, and with it, the view of Israel. Earlier this spring Turkey announced that its GokTurk satellite would provide high-resolution Israeli images beginning in 2013. Once those images are "commercially available" from a non-U.S. entity, Google would conceivably have the option to use them in Google Earth.
Google Street View, the people who catch you with your pants down and put you on the internet (if you don't believe me, do an image search), may be coming to Israel. Of course, we have different concerns than the rest of you.
A ministerial task force headed by Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor begins work this week to determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks of enabling Google Street View to show viewers clear shots of streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Other members of the committee include Moshe Kahlon, Yossi Peled, Limor Livnat, Michael Eitan and Stas Misezhnikov.
The issue, unlike that in many other countries, is not whether the service will invade one's privacy, although that concern will be discussed. Instead, the government's main concern is about the security of those who inhabit buildings in high-risk environments, such as areas where embassies are located.
Terrorists might use the service to plan suicide bombings or other attacks against major Israeli figures, security officials say. Task force members begin discussing on Monday which streets and buildings, in which cities, the government will allow Google to photograph.
If Google gets the green light, it is likely to face tight restrictions, however, with blackouts on areas such as those with power stations, consulates, embassies and other high-security establishments.
According to the TechEYE.net website, Google last year bought local startup Quiksee, "hoping that the company's software could be used to look into buildings."
The website, which called Street View a "spying service," claimed Google "has had its all spying eye on Israel for a while."
I really hope the government decides to take a pass on this one.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
