Mobile Phones and Security Events in Israel: Facts and Policy Implications

Using real time data this lecture uncovers mobile phone usage during terror attacks and military conflicts in Israel. The studies on which the lecture is based tell the story of mobile phone usage by Israelis residing in close proximity to unexpected terror attacks and those residing along the Lebanon and Gaza borders before, during, and immediately following terror attacks and the wars that took place along Israel's borders in 2006 and 2009. These studies demonstrate observations regarding Israeli society and its social cohesiveness and address the importance mobility in times of crisis.

Amit M. Schejter, (Ph.D., Rutgers) is associate professor of communications and co‑director of the Institute for Information Policy at the Pennsylvania State University. His scholarship integrates a comprehensive and critical approach to communication policy. His studies have been widely published in leading communication and law journals, and cited in congressional and Knesset hearings. He has held senior executive positions in the communications industry in Israel, among them vice president of Israel's leading mobile phone operator.  His books include The Wonder Phone in the Land of Miracles: Mobile Telephony in Israel (coauthored with Akiba Cohen and Dafna Lemish, 2008).