Activists demand Frey end Israeli surveillance contract

Dozens of Minneapolis residents and community advocates rallied inside Minneapolis City Hall early Friday, delivering more than 2,000 petition signatures urging Mayor Jacob Frey to end the city’s contract with Israeli surveillance company Zencity.

The $500,000, three-year contract, approved in October 2023, tasks Zencity with designing digital surveys to measure public perception of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and overall public safety. The results are intended to help the city “improve” police-community relations.

For many, the partnership with Zencity represents a deep concern about Minneapolis’ accountability both locally and globally.

“This was a huge success… More than 50 people came out at 7:30 on a Friday morning,” said Jo Manu of Jewish Voice for Peace-Twin Cities, one of the rally organizers. “We had wonderful speakers and delivered the petitions right into the office of Mayor Frey. Thousands of people have made it clear that we don’t want the city contracting with an Israeli tech company that emerged out of Israeli military intelligence.”

Frey was not present when residents delivered the petitions. Manu said organizers left their contact information with staff and “will continue to demand a meeting with him.”

Zencity was founded by Eyal Feder-Levy, a former member of Unit 8200, Israel’s elite intelligence and surveillance unit. That connection has drawn criticism from advocates who view the contract as tacit support of Israel amid its ongoing war in Gaza.

“As Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, the city of Minneapolis should heed the call of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement and cut the contract with Zencity in support of Palestine,” said a member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

Manu, who has organized in the Free Palestine movement for more than 20 years, said Jewish Voice for Peace rejects the notion that pro-Israel organizations represent all Jews. “The JCC [Jewish Community Center] and the JCRC [Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas] claim to speak for all Jews, but they really don’t,” Manu said.

“There are a lot of us who not only are critical of Israel, but want to hold Israel to account for the genocide. Our ultimate goal is to ensure the city of Minneapolis does not contract with Israeli companies.”

Beyond international ties, residents raised concerns about Zencity’s technology and its history of monitoring Black communities’ social media posts after police killings.

“Any response to the MPD’s history of violence should have been led by the Black and Indigenous communities that had been the most harmed,” said Jae, a member of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. “Having the MPD be in charge of measuring its performance five years after it killed George Floyd is deeply disrespectful.”

Survey data from the mayor’s dashboard shows Black and Indigenous residents report feeling significantly less safe than white residents, with little change since the contract began. Critics argue that after $350,000 in taxpayer funds, no clear community benefits have been demonstrated.

Mayor Frey’s office defended the use of Zencity, describing it as one of several digital tools the city uses to reach residents.

“Digital engagement with residents is a critical way to receive community input while reaching people where they are — online,” wrote Jess Olstad, a spokesperson for the city, in response to the MSR. “In fact, we’ve found that digital channels can reach more diverse populations of Minneapolitans when compared to community meetings and other traditional forms of engagement.”

Olstad said Zencity is a global civic technology company with offices in New York, Vancouver, London and Tel Aviv, employing people around the world, “including Israelis and Palestinians.” She added that “anything that suggests the City makes contract decisions based on the nationality of employees is not only deeply troubling, but also illegal.”

Earlier this year, Zencity presented its first-year findings from the public perception survey to the City Council alongside MPD. That presentation is available online.

The mayor’s office was contacted Friday with a request for Mayor Frey’s statement and a deadline of 5 p.m the following Sunday. However, no direct response was received by press time.

The rally was organized by a coalition that includes Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice.

“People are waking up to the reality of Israel as a rogue state and a bad actor,” Manu said. “The more atrocities it commits, the more people are opening their eyes. We believe all life is sacred, and true justice in Palestine means not only an end to the genocide, but an end to the occupation and apartheid.”

Advocates argue that Frey has the sole authority to end the contract with 30 days’ notice. They are demanding the contract be canceled by Dec. 1, before the next scheduled payment.

“The city can still salvage $150,000 that could be invested in more effective public safety initiatives that respect and take direction from the communities most harmed by MPD’s racist and violent past,” said Bob Goonin of the Campaign to Cut the Contract with Zencity.

Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.com.