Israeli paper claims police used Pegasus spyware against Netanyahu
The former prime minister’s son and some of his close advisers were targeted. The list of people spied upon without a court order include journalists, businessmen, and government officials. Israel’s president and government are outraged at the practice. “It’s an earthquake,” says Israel’s Interior minister.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – Israeli police used the Pegasus spyware from the NSO Group to track and monitor the smartphones of prominent public figures, this according to Israeli business daily Calcalist.
Those targeted include journalists, activists, senior government officials, and close advisers to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as his son.
In the second part of a report published today, the paper claims that the phones of scores of people were hacked a without a court order and this for several years.
The people whose phones were hacked were not under investigation nor suspected of any crimes, people like directors general of the Finance, Justice, Communication and Transportation ministries.
Other people targeted were businessman Rami Levy; former CEO of Walla Ilan Yeshua, a key witness in the trial against Netanyahu; and Avner, one of the sons of the former Prime Minister, as well two of his advisers, Yonatan Urich and Topaz Luk.
The Pegasus spyware gives operators remote access to phones after it is covertly installed.
Sold to intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies around the world, it exploits security vulnerabilities in Android and iPhone operating systems to access device content, such a text messages and photos. Phone cameras and microphones can also be activated without the user knowing.
Israel’s Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev has set up a commission of inquiry to look into the affair. Meanwhile, Israeli lawmakers have been outraged by the revelations.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pledged to shed light on the matter, which risks further polarising an already divided society shaken by scandals, suspicions and deep rifts.
Following the publication of the report, Israeli police admitted that certain aspects of the affair were not properly handled with respect to the spyware, especially under Israel Police commissioner Roni Alsheich, a former deputy head of Shin Bet (Israel’s domestic intelligence service).
Police technology department chief Yosef Kahlon has also come under suspicion in connection with the case.
The controversy sparked by the Calcalist report has elicited strong reactions among political leaders.
At a press conference this morning, President Isaac Herzog called for a “thorough investigation". “We cannot lose our democracy,” he said. “We cannot lose our police, and we cannot lose public support in them.”
For his part, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said that if the report is true, “it is an earthquake, with actions befitting oppressive regimes from a century ago.”
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