NYPD Cancels $750K Deal for Israeli Surveillance Tech Amid Political Firestorm

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has withdrawn its intention to purchase a $750,000 cellular surveillance system from Israeli intelligence firm Cognyte without a competitive bidding process. The decision came after Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced criticism from progressive allies and met with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. While the immediate deal is off, the NYPD stated it would now initiate a competitive procurement process, allowing Cognyte to bid alongside other companies. The department cited that the initial contract "did not meet the requirements for a sole-source purchase, and therefore we are moving to an open and competitive procurement process," adding that it remains unclear if Cognyte's system will ultimately be selected.

The deal placed Mayor Mamdani in a political bind. During his campaign, he pledged to reform the city's public safety policies and had previously spoken out against police surveillance technologies. Mamdani, a supporter of the BDS movement, has also criticized past security cooperation between the NYPD and Israel. Despite these stances, his administration had not severed ties with Israeli security entities. Commissioner Tisch, who identifies as a "proud Zionist," was appointed by Mamdani, despite opposition from some pro-Palestinian supporters who have called for her dismissal due to her views on Israel and her family's financial contributions to the country.

The proposed acquisition, for a system named FalcoNet, began in December 2025 under former Mayor Eric Adams. The NYPD had engaged with Cognyte for a three-year contract valued at approximately $750,000. An official procurement document indicated the police believed Cognyte was the sole manufacturer of the needed products and services. The system, utilizing AI, functions by mimicking a cell tower to connect with nearby phones, capturing device identifiers to help locate specific targets. It can be mounted on vehicles or drones, or carried in a backpack, offering investigators the ability to deploy tracking capabilities directly to a search area.

However, the initial announcement sparked outrage among council members and activists aligned with Mamdani, who is associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a group critical of Israel. City Council Member Tiffany Cabán urged the city to cease investing in "mass surveillance of New Yorkers," particularly concerning technologies she claims have been used by human rights-abusing governments. Council Member Julie Won expressed shock that Mamdani had even considered the deal, warning that warrantless surveillance erodes trust between the police and communities.

Civil liberties groups, including the Legal Aid Society, voiced concerns that the technology effectively turns New Yorkers' phones into tracking devices. They highlighted the NYPD's past use of similar tools over a thousand times without a warrant, even before formal policies were established. The NYPD maintains that the FalcoNet system was not intended for eavesdropping or collecting messages from non-investigative devices, and that investigative use typically requires a warrant, except in specific emergencies like searches for missing or suicidal individuals, where warrants may be obtained within 48 hours. The system was slated to be operated by only four members of a dedicated technology unit.

Cognyte, headquartered in Herzliya and listed on the Nasdaq, has a history of controversy surrounding its surveillance products. In 2023, Reuters reported on documents showing Cognyte won a bid to sell eavesdropping technology to a Myanmar telecom operator before the country's military coup. Norway's sovereign wealth fund divested from Cognyte due to concerns its products could contribute to severe human rights violations. While the $750,000 deal is financially small relative to Cognyte's annual revenues of approximately $400 million, the incident illustrates the challenges Israeli intelligence firms face in environments where privacy, human rights, and attitudes toward Israel intersect with political struggles.