- Title: Israel ramps up scrutiny of police as NSO scandal spreads
- Date: 7th February 2022
- Summary: VARIOUS OF ISRAELI POLICE CAR ARRIVING AT NETANYAHU'S RESIDENCE TO INVESTIGATE THE PRIME MINISTER AS PEOPLE DEMONSTRATING AGAINST NETANYAHU CHANT (Hebrew) "Well done."
- Embargoed: 21st February 2022 14:35
- Keywords: Israel NSO inquiry ministers pegasus police president scandal
- Location: ARAVA DESERT, HERZLIYA, ISRAEL / JERUSALEM
- City: ARAVA DESERT, HERZLIYA, ISRAEL / JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Middle East,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA005FXOBDC7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Israel announced it was setting up a national inquiry on Monday (February 7) after a newspaper reported illicit use by police of powerful spyware against confidants of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other public figures.
Pegasus, a cellphone hacking tool made by Israel's NSO Group, was used to "phish for intelligence even before any investigation had been opened against the targets, and without judicial warrants," Calcalist said in an unsourced report.
Those targets included a son of and two aides to Netanyahu - who is on trial on corruption charges - as well as a co-defendant and several witnesses, and, separately, two former officials suspected in leaks to journalists, Calcalist said.
Lawyers for Netanyahu - who denies wrongdoing - urged that proceedings against him be suspended. A court spokesman said he did not know if any such request had been filed with the judges, who conducted the trial on Monday as scheduled.
Omer Barlev, the minister for police, said he was setting up a cabinet-level commission of inquiry. "There won't be such failings on my watch," he said in a video statement about Calcalist's findings, casting them as predating the current government.
That level of scrutiny did not satisfy at least three of Barlev's cabinet colleagues, who demanded a more independent, extra-governmental commission of inquiry.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the issue "very serious, if true," while hedging on what kind of inquiry was due.
Pegasus is important for fighting crime and terrorism but was not "intended to be used in phishing campaigns targeting the Israeli public or officials, which is why we need to understand exactly what happened," Bennett said in a statement.
Police have been conducting internal probes, and answering questions before parliament, since Calcalist last month reported that investigators had used Pegasus against Israeli citizens.
The furore has added a domestic angle to allegations that surfaced last year of misuse of Pegasus by foreign clients, which prompted the Bennett government to order export reviews.
"Those who turned a blind eye to this activity abroad, must now deal with it here," Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz told his faction, calling for some police to face criminal investigation.
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