Mandelblit told cops to shut down Pegasus spying program until use probed — report

Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit ordered police to suspend “offensive” use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware until an inquiry into its use is completed, Channel 12 news reports.

Mandelblit made the decision in his last days before retiring at the end of January, according to the channel. It came alongside his decision to open an internal probe into the use of the spyware.

Police were accused of not only using the program to listen in on suspects, but to vacuum any data from phones they spied on.

The revelation comes as politicians have shifted from making do with a limited probe to calling for a full-on state inquiry into the matter, following the revelation that they too were allegedly spied on.

According to the channel, Bennett told minister earlier Monday that he did not want to do away with the tool altogether, but to regulate its use.

“You want a tool like this to fight crime families and serious criminality. Where the line is exactly needs to be figured out, that’s the takeaway from this,” he is quoted saying.