Israel’s state comptroller Matanyahu Engelman launched an investigation on Tuesday against the Israeli police for using ‘Pegasus’ spyware to wiretap peaceful protestors.
Utilizing the Pegasus software created by the NSO company on Israeli civilians, including mayors of cities in the Jewish State, anti-Netanyahu activists is illegal reports Haaretz.
The scandal was originally reported by Calcalist who revealed that in 2020, Israeli police used the spyware to hack the phones of anti-Netanyahu protest leaders and were able to tap and monitor all of their cellular activity remotely.
But that wasn’t the only spyware the Israeli Police used to surveil civilian protestors. The Organization for civilian rights Pratiyut Yisrael (Israeli privacy) demanded that the state provide an explanation as to why they used the technology Ein Hanetz which visually records license plates for the purpose of criminal investigations.
However, according to a bombshell report by Walla, the police used the software to create a database of civilians – even those with no evidence of criminal behavior – a direct violation of a court order.
MK Eli Avidar called the development an “emergency alarm for the public in a democratic Israel.”
“The police’s usage of military/civilian technology to prevent of limit legitimate protests is a humanitarian violation of the holy of holies of democracy – civil freedom and it was all done while denying it all along”
A law enforcement official told Ynet that the police didn’t use Pegasus software but rather different spyware, also manufactured by NSO that was used in sensitive cases which the police claim justified its usage. The police claim in response that they “did not use the spyware against innocent civilians” and that their surveillance was performed “legally.”
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