Haaretz - IDF facility tapped all calls from Israel abroad until 2004

For thirty years, the Israel Defense Forces military censor operated a special surveillance facility in the center of Tel Aviv, officially designed to tap the phone conversation of foreign journalists reporting to their home countries.

The underground facility remained in operation until 2004, but only recently, it was revealed that the soldiers serving in it did not limit their eavesdropping to the journalists’ conversation alone.

Among the conversations tapped were those prime ministers held with world leaders and even private conversations by ordinary citizens.

[Hat tip: David Cohen]

So, what does make Israel better than any other dictatorial regime around the world?