From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Report: Police hacked phone of key individual in Netanyahu cases without approval
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Police hacked into the phone of a key individual involved in the criminal cases against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pulled out a large amount of data, Channel 13 reports.
According to Channel 12, the person may have been Shlomo Filber, a former director-general of the Communications Ministry and longtime confidant of Netanyahu who is a state’s witness in Case 4000. That network airs patchy voice recordings in which police investigators seem to be discussing hacking a person’s phone, just before conducting an interview with Filber.
The reports come as police reel from accusations that they have repeatedly used hacking software from NSO Group and others to break into citizens’ phones illegally. The report does not mention whether NSO’s Pegasus program was allegedly used in this case.
Channel 13 says the revelation was made as part of an ongoing Justice Ministry inquiry into the NSO affair.
The data retrieved included photos, texts, phone numbers and more, and was taken without a court order, the report alleges.
The network says police have told justice officials that the matter is being looked into, but that the material remained in the tech unit and was not handed over to investigators in the case or to prosecutors.
Channel 13 notes that the discovery could cause serious delays in Netanyahu’s trial, as the opposition leader’s lawyers may demand to review the new revelations and take action over them.
In an official response to the report, police say only that the matter of phone hacking is currently being investigated by the force and the Justice Ministry. They refuse to comment on the specific claim.
The Times of Israel Community.