Google Imagery of Israel

There’s much concern about Google Earth imagery in Korea, India and other countries. Ever wonder why Israel is not the in the fray? There’s an article in Globes that explains it.

Bottom line:

Israeli sources told “Globes” that Israel was very sensitive to exposure of strategic locations in satellite photographs. However, legal restrictions in the US and understandings between Israel and other countries are reducing Israel’s vulnerability to enlarged photos of locations liable to become targets of mega-terrorism.

An independent survey of the Google Earth site for satellite photographs shows that the search engine limits the resolution for available photos of Israel sites, whether strategic or civilian. This restriction does not exist for photographs of sites in other countries.