Thursday, March 27, 2025, 13:41 Police officers illegally detained a Shomron resident at a vehicle checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem. Their purpose was for him to deliver an interrogation summons to his minor son who had taken part in a protest. The border police identified the father by illegally using the “Eagle Eye” vehicle identification system that is used at checkpoint crossings in Yehuda and Shomron for specific purposes only. The system is designed to locate persons wanted for serious crimes, not for delivering interrogation summons. The minor’s mother was detained at a checkpoint under similar circumstances several days later.
The mother detained at a crossing; Video courtesy of the videographer
Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing the father, sent a complaint to the Public Complaints Officer of the Yehuda and Shomron District Police. The complaint was directed at the officers who illegally detained the minor’s parents. Attorney Rom also demanded that the authorities find those responsible for illegally using the system to identify the vehicle. Rom also insisted that the illegal use of the system against Yehuda and Shomron residents be stopped.
The complaint described how the incident occurred last week, when the father was hurrying to a business meeting in Jerusalem. To his surprise, when he arrived at the eastern ring-road checkpoint, a police officer asked for his identification card. He presented it, and she took it for examination without giving any explanation. When she returned, she asked him if he had a child named [redacted]. When he replied in the affirmative, he discovered that he had been pulled over so that the police could give him an interrogation summons for him to pass on to [redacted], his minor son. Apparently, the minor was being summoned for interrogation following his participation in a protest in the Yehuda and Shomron regions.
The complaint reads in part, “The officer admitted to my client that the detention was carried out after an alert was received in the computerized system at the checkpoint, due to the identification of his license plate (apparently by the Eagle Eye system). The officer reiterated and underscored to my client, who expressed dissatisfaction at the illegal detention, that he was not suspected of anything, and the purpose of the detention was to deliver an interrogation summons to his son.”
The officer added untruthful statements, verbally attacked the father, and falsely reported over the communications network that he was causing a disturbance at the checkpoint. He was sitting in his car throughout the entire incident, waiting on the side of the road as requested. Another officer who arrived at the scene explained to him that he was not suspected of anything, and that the purpose of the detention was to deliver the interrogation summons to his minor son. “The entire incident lasted half an hour, during which my client was forced to wait until the summons arrived. Apparently, it was being printed. During the entire wait, my client complained that the detention was illegal, and he was going to miss an important multi-participant meeting with clients in Jerusalem. During the entire detention, my client waited on the side of the road in full view of passers-by who looked at him as if he were an apprehended criminal,” wrote Attorney Rom in the complaint.
Attorney Rom further explained that the detention was illegal: “There is no law that authorizes a police officer to detain an individual for the purpose of delivering an interrogation summons for his son.” Rom objected that the officers had filmed his client on a personal phone, which is also illegal. Additionally, there is a list of specific legal purposes for which the “Eagle Eye” surveillance system may be used. Delivering an interrogation summons to the father of a suspect is not on the list. “We hereby demand an investigation to determine who labeled my client’s vehicle in the police system so that it would be subject to inspection and lead to his illegal detention. Those responsible must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Attorney Rom sharply criticized the use of the Eagle Eye system for illegal purposes: “This is a scandal. The surveillance and notification by electronic means is a practice meant for exceptional cases. Detaining an individual for a long time at a checkpoint in full view of passers-by to deliver an interrogation summons for his minor son is definitely not authorized. We filed complaints with and made demands to the relevant authorities, and we will go to court to demand compensation.”