From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
AG tells High Court government spyware commission acting illegally
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Attorney General’s Office tells the High Court of Justice that a government commission of inquiry established to probe the alleged illicit use of spyware by law enforcement is acting in contravention of the law.
“The government is forbidden from interfering in criminal trials, disrupting them or delaying them, including through the means of a one-sided committee,” the Attorney General’s Office tells the High Court.
The commission was formed in August 2023 to examine alleged illicit use of spyware by law enforcement bodies against Israeli citizens.
Petitions were filed against the commission’s establishment by the Black Robes anti-judicial overhaul protest group on the grounds that it could interfere with, and unduly influence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara herself strongly objected to the possibility that the commission will review police and State Attorney Office activities relating to the criminal investigation into Netanyahu.
In March, Baharav-Miara asked the court to issue an interim order against the committee, noting that it had requested from her office details of specific cases either under investigation or currently before the courts.
The commission is tasked with examining the conduct of police and the State Attorney’s Office regarding the procurement of, surveillance with, and data collection through cyber tools, such as the Pegasus software.
In 2022, the Calcalist newspaper reported that the police used spyware tools to spy on dozens of high-profile Israeli figures, including family members and associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without any judicial oversight. An investigation by the police and an interim report by Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari found Calcalist’s reporting to have been largely incorrect, however.
