Israel Pulls Chinese Cars from Service over Fears Their Cameras and Microphones Could Spy
Chinese cars drove out of Israeli military gates, but they will no longer be allowed back in. Officers who until recently moved around in large seven-seat Chery SUVs must hand them back. The reason is not a rattling engine or a tired gearbox, but a conclusion by intelligence experts that the vehicles might listen in.
Cybersecurity specialists have been warning for some time that today’s car behaves much like a smartphone in your pocket. Cameras watch, microphones listen and telemetry sends data wherever the engineers tell it to go. That may sound harmless in a family hatchback. Put an officer behind the wheel and give that person access to sensitive information, and the stakes suddenly become strategic.
Israel’s military tried softer measures at first. It blocked cars that used Chinese servers and even considered software "sterilisation" to stop machines from transmitting data. That approach proved impractical and messy. In the end the army chose the cleaner solution: set the Chinese cars aside, even when they are new and shiny.
From Chery Tiggo 8 to Mitsubishi Outlander
The Chery Tiggo 8, a popular seven-seat family SUV, became an unexpected suspect. Today many of those vehicles sit in a parking area while keys are collected and Japan-built Mitsubishi Outlanders are handed out as replacements. Empty spaces get filled quickly and the fleet will not stay depleted for long.
Some officers took the change in their stride. Others felt like children having a toy taken away, because, one put it, "it might be talking to strangers." The Israeli army does not joke when intelligence and data are at issue.
A gradual, quiet recall
The process started almost unnoticed. Bases first banned Chinese cars from entering. Investigations then tried to establish who used those vehicles and how often they operated in sensitive areas. Once the picture became clear, the recall began.
By Christmas most of the vehicles should be gone from the military fleet. New cars with vetted origins will enter service in early 2026. The whole system will move, quietly but deliberately, towards a state where no button or sensor sends information beyond the driver’s control.
Bigger questions for every owner
If Israel, a country renowned for its cybersecurity and surveillance capabilities, cannot fully trust a new generation of cars, how should an ordinary European consumer feel? A car is no longer simply a means of transport. It now functions as a mobile data centre prototype.
When a military authority talks about espionage, that does not mean every Chinese car secretly records classified conversations. It does mean the risk is real. Every sensor, every connected system and every automatic update needs a clear answer to the question: who controls it. If no answer exists, the simplest option remains the safest. Pull the plug and take the keys back.
The real irony of the Israeli decision lies here. An army that normally places its faith in top level intelligence and cutting edge technology now prefers a machine that does less rather than more. Sometimes the most secure vehicle is the one that says nothing at all.
