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Israeli Company with Military-Grade Surveillance Aims to Defend Jewish Communities Abroad
(JNS) Yaakov Lappin - Concerned by the threat of anti-Semitism, IDF Col. (res.) Oded Halevy, CEO of the Israeli company Gotrack HLS, is seeking to make military-grade video surveillance services available for Jewish communities abroad. His approach to surveillance is playing an increasingly growing role in securing multiple sectors in Israel, from city councils to factories. It may now keep a watchful, remote eye over synagogues and Jewish community centers around the world as they face rising threats. Halevy pioneered the concept of centralized control centers that receive camera and radar feeds from multiple locations. "We replicated the Gaza border-control centers for civilian needs," he said. Gotrack HLS formulated an activation concept called "Hunter," designed to create prevention. That means proactively and systematically scanning environments for suspicious activities, knowing how to identify unusual movements and finding activity that does not belong. While almost all Jewish community centers or synagogues employ CCTV cameras, the familiar problem of not using them in real-time to prevent attacks arises. The anti-Semitic shooting attack at Halle, Germany, in 2019 was caught on video, "but no one was looking at the site in real time," said Halevy. The remote control room also employs video analytics that automatically detects firearms and alerts operators to their presence. In 2018, Gotrack set up an initiative called SEEU, which provides outsourcing of camera control-room services. Halevy is currently in touch with Jewish communities in North America and Europe, offering to take over the video feeds of their surveillance cameras to provide active protection.