The recent exposé into the alleged warrantless use of spyware against Israelis by law-enforcement authorities came to the world with a bang, only to fade into oblivion with a whimper. The only loser, as always, in the war of spins is the general public.
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If you take the recent debunking claim by the justice system at face value, then it appears that the Israel Police is not engaged in wholesale spying over Israelis through their mobile devices
But in the current crazy environment, we live in, where lies and truths are often conflated, there is no chance that people could be swayed to change their minds. The month-long exposé inundated our media airwaves with supposed revelations that were never backed up by actual substance.
It has had such an impact that even former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial was placed on hold so that the allegations of spying on a state's witness could be scrutinized. Suddenly people who have long championed civil liberties called for the arrest of key law enforcement officials, all but discarding the presumption of innocence and the democratic rule of law.
Now that the dust appears to have settled, it turns out that apart from the almost-fatal blow to the public's trust in the police, the main victims are Israelis by and large. With the Israel Police told to stand down its investigative weapons pending a review, criminals are now much freer to act, and they now also have much more knowledge on the resources that could be used against them.
It is doubly important to give police officers the technological tools they need to tackle crime at this point in time, as organized crime is rearing its head and targeting people on the street with car bombs. Police can do this while adhering to the law.
In the grand scheme of things, the exposé is important in that it would lead to the regulation of police spyware. The journalists who broke this story must reveal a smoking gun if they have one, for the benefit of all of us. But until they do so, we must restore the police its proper powers. And on a side note, Israel is not a police state.
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