JERUSALEM (VINnews) – Defense Minister Israel Katz plans to sign a special security order on Sunday that will prohibit the use of fiber-optic cable-guided and cellular-guided drones in Israeli airspace for six months, his office said.
The temporary measure is intended to address security concerns while officials develop additional responses to emerging threats, according to the statement. It will apply specifically to drones guided by fiber-optic cables or those equipped with SIM cards that operate over commercial mobile networks, rather than conventional radio-frequency systems.
Exemptions will cover activities conducted by or on behalf of security agencies, as well as fiber-optic and SIM-controlled drones that obtained prior approvals from Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority before the order takes effect. The decree also creates an exemptions committee to review requests for waivers.
Katz’s office said the decision followed concrete intelligence and increasing threats from adversaries inside and outside Israel. These include drone attacks, attempts to target senior officials, use of drones by criminals and crime families, intelligence collection, and smuggling operations.
“Given th...