Defensive ambiguity |
The Israeli army on Thursday morning jammed GPS signals over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area without warning, to chaotic effect. Drivers using Waze and Google Maps were jolted as their location switched mid-travel from central Israel to Beirut or Cairo.
It was one of countless reminders of the country’s active military action only miles away, and it had cascading effects in all aspects of daily life.
Traffic jams in the already congested metropolis worsened. Residents ran late for meetings, doctor appointments, school pickups. Many commuters on the cashless public transportation system were unable to pay, given the widespread adoption of location-based payment using QR codes on the Moovit phone application.
Dating apps matched recently discharged Israeli soldiers with partners in Lebanon, though the countries see each other as sworn enemies.
By the weekend, signals had mostly been restored, but a looming Iranian threat means Tel Aviv, a hard-partying city that loves its takeout, will likely be forced to forgo some of the conveniences of GPS-based phone applications in the near-term. It’s an irksome but small price to pay to avoid being blown up by an Iranian ballistic missile or drone swarm.
Israel is bracing for a possible Iranian attack after a hit on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Damascus killed senior military officials. Iran blamed Israel for the strike — Israel hasn't commented — and vowed to retaliate. That prompted the Israeli military to take a step it had previously only taken in the north of the country and parts of the south: running interference with navigation signals. “We are aware that these disruptions cause inconveniences, but it is a vital and necessary tool in our defensive capabilities,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing on Thursday night.
Disrupting the GPS signals in this way “is a form of electronic warfare,” according to Oded Vanunu, who heads vulnerability research at Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. “It’s not spoofing,” he said of the army activity — referring to the practice of sending false location data to a receiver — but rather introduces noise across the entire GPS spectrum.
Though Tel Aviv has been targeted with thousands of rockets from Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the military never before jammed the GPS there, even though the beachside city is home to strategic assets. That includes dozens of skyscrapers, multinationals and tech startups, and the military’s main headquarters where the prime minister, defense minister and IDF generals huddle to hash out battle plans.
Hamas’ rockets are makeshift and inaccurate. By contrast, Iran and its proxies — including the Yemen-based Houthis and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — possess precision-guided missiles and drones that rely on GPS to lock on to targets.
It’s not yet clear from Iran’s threats whether it plans to attack Israel directly, which could spark a broader regional war, or through its proxies. Any widening of the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed forces would likely degrade GPS availability further.
Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, offers a glimpse of life without it. For the past six months, residents of the city located some 30 miles south of the Lebanon border have lived with daily GPS scrambling by the military. Most days, smartphone apps identify Haifa-based users to be located around Beirut's international airport.
As a result, drivers in Haifa say they’ve weaned themselves off of Waze and stick to familiar routes. Even some of the older residents who spent most of their lives driving without GPS say they avoid leaving the city if they can.
Local shopkeepers have now grown accustomed to visitors stopping in for directions like it’s 1995. It’s also changed public transportation habits as many have reverted back to the chargeable bus and train cards. The computerized schedules at bus stops around the city are mostly ignored — they show the wrong times.
Esther Stoller, a pensioner from Haifa, says she stopped using Gett taxi after growing infuriated with drivers who lost their way but left the meter running.
Residents haven’t stopped ordering food, though.
Shadi Nassar, a manager at a Pizza Hut that works with the Wolt delivery app, says the early days of the war were filled with angry calls from customers. The number of orders hasn’t changed since then, he says, but the attitude has. “People now understand, if the delivery is late, it’s because of Waze,” he says.
Helal Hager, a 23-year-old Wolt driver, says some local delivery workers have found a workaround. There are certain areas in Haifa on higher ground that for reasons unknown are never affected by the GPS jamming, he said. If he gets lost, he asks for directions or tries to find one of these hotspots. “Slowly, we learn to deal with it,” he says. “We help each other out.” —Marissa Newman