An aerial surveillance drone rented by the Jerusalem police from Israel Aircraft Industries was used to monitor Moslem prayer services on the Temple Mount, a potential trouble spot, last Friday.
Police announced their use of the technology, which would allow them to monitor anything from mass demonstrations to traffic jams. A drone is an unmanned plane.
The drone, though expensive, can stay aloft as long as eight hours and cover an area of over 50 square miles.
The plane launched from the Western Wall plaza last Friday sent clear pictures of the Temple Mount to a television receiver in a police van.
But a source at national police headquarters said the drones are not very effective over dense urban areas. They probably will not be used again over the Temple Mount, the source said, “in order not to agitate the Arab population.”
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