Alsheich: Police doesn’t possess Pegasus, allegations are ‘spin’

Former Israel Police chief Roni Alsheich denies that the police has access to the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware and says there is no way officers hacked people’s phones without court orders.

“All of the names that were published were investigated in depth by the Israel Police and were [found to be] baseless,” he says, referring to a recent report listing people whose phones police officers ostensibly infected with spyware without authorization.

“If there was any doubt about it, the Israel Police does not possess Pegasus,” Alsheich adds, and claims that court orders were obtained whenever police sought to activate a wiretap.

“This story is spin,” he adds during a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya. “Someone is going to pay for it.”

Alsheich was head of the Israel Police at the time when most of the alleged illicit hacking was taking place.