Senior police officers from 49 countries met in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to kick off
a three-day, high profile Interpol conference.
The delegates will discuss
international law enforcement cooperation against cyber and organized crime,
human and narcotics trafficking, and terrorism among other
issues.
Interpol President Khoo Boon Hui told delegates, “We are all too
aware that the terrorists and organized crime groups are quick to take advantage
of sophisticated tools that exploit vulnerabilities.”
“Here in Israel
alone, a reported number of over 1,000 cyber-attacks take place every minute,”
he added.
Internet-based crime costs countries more than all drug
trafficking combined, Hui said, adding that European countries lose a total of
750 billion euros a year due to cyber crime. Targets include global financial
institutions, state institutions and even the Interpol website, he
said.
Ronald K. Noble, secretarygeneral of Interpol, told delegates, “I
am very happy to be with you here today in the amazing city of Tel Aviv... I
take this opportunity to thank our Israeli hosts for their outstanding
organization and warm reception.”
Noble said that Interpol’s acceptance
of a request by Israel to allow the country to move to the European region from
the Asian region in 2006 was the “right decision,” adding, “We are reaping the
benefits of this decision today.”
He went on to say: “I certainly do not
need to convince anyone in this room that crime has become inherently
transnational and can touch our citizens from any country in the world where the
Internet is in use.”
“What is more, the Internet also facilitates the
dissemination of violent, extreme and radical ideologies, enabling radical
leaders to reach friendly ears right in our communities and in all corners of
the world,” he warned, citing the recent terrorist attacks in Toulouse, France,
in which three Jewish children, a rabbi and two soldiers were
murdered.
Israel Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino welcomed
his counterparts to Israel, urging them to enjoy their stay.
Danino later
said that he hoped French authorities would answer Israel’s request and arrest
the two French nationals who ran over and killed 25-year-old Lee Zeitouni in Tel
Aviv last September.
The men fled the scene after hitting Zeitouni,
driving recklessly through red lights, according to police.
They then
packed suitcases, gathered family members and fled to Paris.
“We remain
in close touch with the French authorities, with the aim of extraditing the
murderers. I hope that France answers our request despite French law not having
an extradition agreement.
We will find the legal way to get over the
obstacles and bring about the arrest of the two,” Danino said.
Ch.-Supt.
Galia Batz, who heads Israel’s Interpol liaison office at national police
headquarters in Jerusalem, told The Jerusalem Post that one of Israel’s first
decisions as a sovereign country was to join Interpol in 1949.
Today,
Batz’s staff instantly share information, issue international arrest warrants
and receive such warrants through Interpol’s secure Internet network, which
connects the Israel Police to the other 189 Interpol members, she
added.
“We get 20,000 requests and messages from other police forces a
year,” Batz said.
“My department’s role is growing with time. We deal
with sensitive cases, such as kidnapped children, coordinating rescue efforts in
natural disasters and working with other police forces to capture fugitives,”
she added.
Batz said several countries that are not from Interpol’s
European region are also participating, including delegates from Africa, the Far
East and the US. “It shows the excellent cooperation that we have,” she said.