Former heads of Shin Bet, air force petition court against Pegasus spyware inquiry

Former senior security officials petitioned the High Court of Justice on Wednesday against the government’s newly formed commission of inquiry into the use of spyware technology in criminal investigations, saying the probe could “damage security.”

Ex-Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman and former air force commander and Defense Ministry director general Amir Eshel petitioned alongside Black Robes Protest — a group of activist lawyers — asking the court to freeze and then cancel the inquiry, on the grounds that it represents “a conflict of interest, while completely ignoring the position of the security forces and the attorney general.”

Shin Bet and National Security Council officials previously cautioned the government that such an inquiry could leak operational secrets.

The court rejected a request for an interim injunction as it considers the petition.

The attorney general has charged that the government lacked the authority to probe open cases, saying that it could obstruct legal proceedings, including the ongoing corruption trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel Police has also opposed the panel, saying it could create difficulties in the police’s ongoing fight against endemic organized crime in Arab communities, which is responsible for a deadly crimewave.

The government approved the panel on Sunday, rejecting the Attorney General’s Office’s counsel to wall off open cases from inspection.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who pressed for the panel, has said that the inquiry is directly connected to a police spyware scandal that broke in 2022, which revealed police usage of sophisticated cellphone hacking technology to obtain unfettered — and possibly, illegal — access to citizens’ devices. The NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware technology sat at the center of the scandal, but was revealed to be only one of several existing hacking tools.

Wednesday’s petition to the High Court — the first against the Pegasus inquiry panel — also asked the court to replace the commission’s chairman.

The petition alleged that retired Jerusalem District Court judge Moshe Drori has expressed support for the government’s overhaul plan to sap the judiciary of power, and has attacked both the current and previous attorney general, both common targets for Netanyahu’s hardline coalition.

Even before assuming power in December, members of Netanyahu’s government threatened to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who was appointed by the previous government and who they say is biased. Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit was appointed by a previous Netanyahu administration, but fell out of favor as the senior justice official overseeing the prime minister’s indictment on corruption counts.

Wednesday’s petitioners requested that Netanyahu, Levin, and representatives of the government be ordered to appear before the court and answer questions about the commission’s formation.

According to the petition, “these decisions were made, among other things, while exceeding authority, with extraneous motives, in promoting improper goals, and not considering damage to state security.”

Netanyahu recused himself from discussion and voting on the panel’s formation, which passed with otherwise unanimous cabinet approval.

Netanyahu has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases. The prime minister denies any wrongdoing in the cases against him and claims that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.