Netanyahu skips right-wing rally demanding state inquiry into police spyware affair

A heavily hyped right-wing rally in Tel Aviv demanding a state investigation into allegations that police illicitly spied on Israeli citizens saw sparser than hoped-for turnout Thursday night, with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also staying away.

An estimated 1,500 people gathered at Habima Square for the protest, which featured speeches from a number of Likud MKs, and a video address from the party chair.

Reports have swirled over the past two weeks that the Israel Police used spyware without judicial approval to target many public officials and activists, including figures central to Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.

The police have denied the reports, while acknowledging that a state’s witness in the Netanyahu trial, former Communications Ministry director general Shlomo Filber, was targeted. An ongoing probe by the deputy attorney general has reportedly so far found no evidence of illicit spyware use against civilians.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu called on his supporters to attend the rally if they “want to ensure the future of our country.”

“If you don’t want to sweep everything under the carpet, if you want to preserve the right to privacy, if you want to ensure the future of our country — show up,” Netanyahu said.

ראש הממשלה לעתיד בנימין נתניהו!!! (הבימה ת''א עכשיו) pic.twitter.com/axNcklSh6q

— איציק שאג (@itzikshag) February 17, 2022

Netanyahu addressed Thursday’s protest by video link, telling attendees that “for reasons I cannot get into, I can’t be with you in Habima Square.” He told the crowd that the police could not be trusted to probe their own alleged abuse of spyware. “It cannot be that the police that broke the law will investigate themselves,” Netanyahu told the crowd.

The bombshell allegations of illicit use of the NSO Pegasus spyware program, published by the Calcalist newspaper last month, were initially met with calls from across the political spectrum for a state commission of inquiry. However, government officials have backpedaled recently, with probes by the police and deputy attorney general said to largely debunk the unsourced newspaper claims.

The allegations of improper spying concern the period when Netanyahu was in power. In recent years, however, Netanyahu and his allies have waged a campaign against the police and state prosecution, with the former prime minister charging that the cases against him were fabricated by corrupt law enforcement hierarchies, backed by the leftist media and opposition politicians.

Supporters of Netanyahu have used the spyware scandal to demand the trial be thrown out and that he be cleared of all charges. His trial was suspended this week while the spyware allegations were checked.

An internal police probe handed to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last week claimed that out of the 26 people named by Calcalist to have been illicitly spied on by police, only three of them had been targeted, only one successfully, and all with judicial oversight.

An investigation being overseen by Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari, aided by former officials from the Shin Bet and Mossad and with input from the NSO Group, has found that most of those named in the newspaper report were not targeted, a TV report said earlier this week.

The Marari team is expected to soon present its findings to Bennett, Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

In an interview with Channel 13 news on Thursday, Sa’ar suggested that there is not enough evidence to support establishing a state commission of inquiry into allegations that police hacked the phones of private citizens.

“In order to set up a commission of inquiry, a factual basis must be established,” he said.

“At the moment, there is still no basis that justifies it,” Sa’ar said, adding that if future evidence emerges, “I will not hesitate to go for it.”

Prosecutors in Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial told the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday that spyware was used by police to hack the phone of Filber, but that no material discovered was used and that proceedings should continue as scheduled.

Prosecutors claim that the spyware was activated on his phone for about a day, but that no material relevant to the case was found.

The prosecutors’ submission was based on a police probe that included an examination of records involving 1,500 phone numbers associated with parties investigated in the three graft cases against Netanyahu, known as cases 1000, 2000 and 4000.

The examination focused on both standard wiretapping and the use of more “advanced” technologies, according to the prosecution’s update to the court.

Lawyers for the defendants and associates of Netanyahu rejected the state prosecutors’ claims and demanded a state commission of inquiry.

Netanyahu is currently on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and in Case 2000, and charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in Case 4000.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing, and says the charges were fabricated by a biased police force and state prosecution service, overseen by a weak attorney general, in league with political opponents and the media.