Bennett on police spying scandal: ‘We don’t know yet if it happened’

9 February 2022, 8:42 pm

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at a press conference in Jerusalem on February 9, 2022. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

During a press conference unveiling a plan to slash taxes, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is asked about the alleged police use of spyware to hack into the phones of dozens of citizens.

“The question is whether or not what was published in the past few days happened or not happened,” Bennett says. “Wholesale use of police orders and phishing on civilians cannot happen in a democracy.”

But the prime minister says that “we still don’t know if this really happened.” He says that the current Justice Ministry inquiry is backed by the Mossad and Shin Bet and will investigate the allegations in depth.

“Once we know what happened and if it happened, I will go ‘all in’ on the broadest and most extensive government commission of inquiry.”