Police pressing to resume use of spyware to fight crime – report

The Israel Police is reportedly seeking to restore its use of cellphone spyware as soon as possible, saying its ability to fight crime is hampered by not being able to tap into criminals’ communications.

Use of spyware programs was suspended last month by then-attorney general Avichai Mandelblit amid allegations that the force had hacked the phones of hundreds of Israelis without proper judicial oversight.

However, separate probes by the police and Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari are said to largely debunk the claims, made in unsourced bombshell reports by the Calcalist newspaper.

Organized crime groups use encrypted message applications to communicate, and police say they need the spyware programs to monitor suspects, Channel 12 news reported Sunday

MK Merav Ben-Ari, who chairs the Knesset Public Security Committee, has already sought permission for police to resume use of spyware software and has spoken with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about the matter, the report said.

Although police are expected to be eventually granted use of the software, such approval will likely only come after Marari submits her final report, which is expected sometime this week.

The report said it wasn’t clear when there would be a decision to approve the resumption of the spyware use, and that a meeting on the matter has been scheduled at the Knesset for next week.

Reports have swirled over the past month that the Israel Police used spyware made by the NSO Group surveillance company without judicial approval to target many public officials and activists, including figures central to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.

Current and former senior police officers have denied the claims.

An internal police probe whose results were handed to Bennett earlier this month said that out of 26 people alleged by Calcalist to have been illicitly spied on by police, only three had been targeted, only one successfully, and all with judicial oversight.

Marari’s separate probe, which is aided by former officials from the Shin Bet and Mossad and with input from the NSO Group, has also found that most of those named in the newspaper report were not targeted, Channel 12 has reported.

The Calcalist reporter who reported the alleged use has since come under scrutiny over the sources and veracity of his claims.

Mandelbit retired on February 1 and has been succeeded by Gali Baharav-Miara.

Pegasus is considered one of the most powerful cyber-surveillance tools available on the market, giving operators the ability to effectively take full control of a target’s phone, download all data from the device, or activate its camera or microphone without the user knowing.

NSO has come under fire for selling Pegasus to authoritarian countries that used the technology to spy on regime critics. The technology was also used to gain unfettered access to senior global public officials’ devices.