In a new article featured in the Israeli economy publication Calcalist, Dr. Keren Levy Ganany-Snider from the Jerusalem Multidisciplinary College and Prof. Daphna Canetti of the University of Haifa reveal surprising findings about public attitudes toward digital surveillance. Their study, published in Terrorism and Political Violence, shows that public support for government surveillance rises only when lives are lost — but not in response to financial or cyber damage.

Their experiments suggest public reactions are driven more by fear than by rational risk assessment. Ironically, mass surveillance does not always improve security — as seen during the October 7th Hamas attack, where terrorists accessed Israeli security cameras to plan their assault. The researchers call for a different approach: investing in cyber defenses, encryption, and public awareness as more effective real tools for future protection.