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Israel charged with using Pegasus spyware to hack civilians’ phones
The NSO Pegasus spyware, a source of diplomatic embarrassment for Israel for months, has apparently also been used by Israeli police.
An investigative statement issued on January 18 by the financial newspaper Calcalist claims that police bought the software in 2013, under then police commissioner Yohanan Danino, and actually started using it in 2015 when former Shin Bet senior Roni Alsheikh served. as a police commissioner. The software would serve the secret police cyber brigade named Signet. The report also claims that police used Pegasus to hack the phones of not only criminals but also activists and other civilians, without court authorization or a judge’s scrutiny.
The report offers the example of the 2020 black flag protests against then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The police allegedly placed Pegasus spyware remotely on the phones of some movement leaders in order to listen to their conversations and monitor their written exchanges.
The report also cites an unnamed mayor suspected of criminal involvement. His phone was hacked with Pegasus, without a court order, while the investigation was still undercover, providing some incriminating information. When the police decided to open a formal investigation against the mayor, they presented the incriminating information as intelligence material from anonymous or secret sources. When the court officially authorized an investigation, the police proceeded to openly confiscate the incriminating material.
The newspaper explains that a legal loophole has allowed the police to operate in this way for years, in violation of citizens’ rights to privacy. He argues that while some specific cases could have justified such means, his investigation revealed a systematic and extensive use of these methods. The people in the NSO who support the software may also have been exposed to some of the confidential information collected by the police.
The Pegasus controversy began in July 2021, when the Forbidden Stories The group released an extensive report, revealing that the software has been used for years by several governments to track the phone numbers of activists, politicians, and journalists. It implied that Israel did not strictly control these computer tools, thus presumably playing the game of undemocratic regimes. The resulting diplomatic crisis with France still casts its shadow on bilateral relations.
Today’s Calcalist publication contradicts a statement made in 2019 by then NSO co-chair Tami Mazel Shachar that, as an Israeli company with American owners, NSO would not track Israeli or American phones. This claim was repeated when Jerusalem tried to appease Paris because Pegasus allegedly traced the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron. According to these reports, the Israeli government has offered to prevent future use of Pegasus against French phone numbers, as it already prevents its use against American ones.
Israeli police and authorities today denied any illegal use of spyware against Israeli citizens. Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said: “There is no practice of wiretapping or hacking into devices by the Israeli police without the approval of a judge. ”
An Israeli police statement states: “There is no basis for the charges made in the article. All police operations in this field are legal and based on court orders and meticulous labor protocols. The activity is under the continuous supervision and supervision of the Attorney General and qualified lawyers outside the organization. Of course, the police will not comment on the tools they use. We regret the unfounded attempt to damage the police activity ”.
However, neither Bar-Lev nor the Israeli police has specifically denied the use of the Pegasus spyware.
NSO said: “We want to clarify that the company does not make the system work once sold to its government customers and is not involved in any way in the operation of the system. … The company sells its products under license and supervision for the use of state security and law enforcement authorities to prevent crime and terrorism legally and in accordance with court mandates and local laws in each country “.
Following the Calcalist report, members of the Knesset of the coalition and the opposition asked Knesset President Mickey Levy will form a parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the allegations. In addition, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit today sent a letter to Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai asking for clarification, in particular on the allegations of wiretapping anti-Netanyahu activists.
Source: here
