Mandelblit reportedly says he ‘would never have approved’ spying on protesters

9 February 2022, 4:20 pm

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Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit at the press conference announcing his decision to make then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu stand trial, November 21, 2019. (Hadas Parush/ Flash90)

Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit reportedly told his confidantes that he would never have approved using spyware to hack the phones of government officials, activists and protesters.

Mandelblit, whose six-year term ended last week, is reported by Ynet to have said that “I would never have approved listening in to protesters. Someone in the police went crazy.”

He also reportedly says that he believes the scandal over police using NSO spyware to target citizens without oversight was rooted in police officers who didn’t know how “to hit the brakes.”