Settler Colonialism, Neoliberalism and Cyber Surveillance: The Case of Israel

Abstract

Cyber technology gradually is becoming an important dimension of globalisation involving state and non-state actors. The diffusion of cyber technology has occurred in tandem with political and economic transformations resulting from the transition to neoliberalism and its associated features of privatisation and deregulation. This process of transformation is not uniform across the globe. The article analyzes how Israel’s role in the Middle East and beyond relies heavily on its private high-tech sector to recruit private companies to carry out the colonial functions of its military rule over the Palestinians, and in reshaping its relationship with some of the Arab Gulf states in their attempts to confront Iran. While at the economic level, private securitization is reaping tremendous profits, the Israeli state remains in control of the core military and political aspects of contracting out and privatising such services. However, with weak international oversight for the deployment of surveillance technology, privatisation is wreaking havoc by disrupting democratic norms and threatening civil society.