The initial Justice Ministry review of allegations claiming that the Israel Police illegally used spyware against Israelis who were not under official investigation is gearing up to debunk the suspicions, Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday.
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Israel's political arena was rattled last week when financial daily Calcalist reported that despite previously alleging that the use of Pegasus – NSO Group's now-infamous surveillance technology – was limited to special cases, the police extensively used it to obtain information from civilians ranging from politicians and government functionaries to social activists and journalists.
The report further said that the measure – classified by the police as "technological and data-oriented policing" – was used as a routine tool in intelligence-gathering and was employed without court orders or authorization from the Attorney General's Office, as required by law, and despite the fact that it would not be admissible in court.
NSO Group's Pegasus software allows its users to remotely access mobile phones infected with the spyware. It exploits security vulnerabilities in cellular operating systems to retrieve a device's content, including text and email messages, photos, call history, and location data.
The spyware has been the focus of a global scandal since mid-July, when the Pegasus Project, a group of 17 media organizations – having been provided with information by Amnesty International, the Citizen Lab of University of Toronto and Forbidden Stories – revealed that the classified technology was being used to hack the phones of journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world.
The report sparked outrage and growing calls for a state commission of inquiry to investigate the use of the spyware by the police.
Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar ordered his office to investigate that matter until the government decided on the nature of a wider inquiry.
According to Channel 12 News, Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari, who heads the investigation, is poised to announce that the police did not use Pegasus spyware as widely as Calcalist claimed and that it was not used against three former directors of ministries: Shai Babad, Keren Terner and Emi Palmor.
The review reportedly confirmeded that some individuals, including three mayors, were hacked but the spyware was used as part of investigations into alleged criminal activity and was sanctioned by the court, as required by law.
The report stressed that the review of the matter is ongoing, adding that the Justice Ministry's taskforce, which includes attorneys, senior analysts from the Israel Security Agency and the Mossad intelligence agency, as well as an NSO Group official, is currently combing through every instance in which spyware was used by the police since they obtained the technology.
The Justice Ministry stated that some 1,500 phone numbers were checked and so far, it has been found that "no action was taken against anyone in the absence of a court warrant against them."
Former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, who was in office when the spyware was first employed by investigators, claimed Sunday that the police could not have used Pegasus surveillance technology in any way as the department does not possess the spyware.
Media reports suggested that Alsheikh was not altogether mistaken, as the police most likely used a "weaker" version of Pegasus, referred to as "Siphon."
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