Why Does Google Earth Not Show Israel

Google Earth was launched in 2005. Every year Google updates the images in Google Earth in certain portions of the world. Google updated Google Earth to include what Haiti looked like after the major earthquake. They also updated Google Earth with imagery from Japan to show what happened after the tsunami. However Google Earth never shows you imagery from the country of Israel for legal reasons.

In 1997, U.S. Congress passed a law called the National Defense Authorization Act. A section inside of the Act prohibits “collection and release of detailed satellite imagery relating to Israel.” An amendment called the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment calls for regulating dissemination of zoomed-in images of Israel. Google Earth is also not allowed to detail imagery of the Gaza Strip.

[Mother Jones]

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