New Delhi: Israel Police allegedly used NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to hack the phone of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Avner Netanyahu, Israeli business newspaper and website Calcalist said in an exclusive report Monday. The government has ordered a probe into the revelations.
According to the report, the police also allegedly snooped on the phones of citizens, including government officials, journalists, and associates of the ex-PM, who is facing a corruption trial.
Local media reports have used the term “extrajudicial spying” while reporting about the issue, adding that the spyware was allegedly employed without court orders.
The Pegasus spyware, owned by Herzliya-based NSO Group, allows its operators to remotely access mobile phones infected with the software, without a device owner’s knowledge. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said if the “grave” allegations are true, the abuses were “unacceptable in a democratic state”.
Last July, a global consortium of publications had alleged the spyware was used by law enforcement bodies and intelligence agencies across the world, including in India, to attempt hacks on heads of state and others.
At the time, it was reported that 300 mobile phone numbers in India were allegedly bugged, including those of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, two ministers in the Narendra Modi government, political strategist Prashant Kishor, former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa, top virologist Gagandeep Kang, and several journalists.
The Supreme Court of India appointed a panel last year to probe the allegations. Its investigation is ongoing.
Also read: No information available with us: MEA on Pegasus row
Spyware ‘used against’ Netanyahu’s son, co-defendant
According to the Calcalist report, the hacking tool was used against Netanyahu’s son, Avner Netanyahu, as well as Iris Elovitch, the former prime minister’s co-defendant in his corruption trial.
Elovitch is the wife of Shaul Elovitch, the former owner of Israel’s biggest telecommunications company, Bezeq, which owned the news website Walla.
Netanyahu has been on trial since 2020 for allegedly maintaining a “reciprocal arrangement” with the Elovitchs to influence Walla‘s coverage.
Apart from Elovitch, journalists at Walla news website, and Netanyahu’s media advisors, Topaz Luk and Yonatan Urich, were also the alleged targets of the spyware, said the Calcalist report.
Former finance ministry director General Shai Babad, former justice ministry director general Emi Palmor and former transportation ministry director General Karen Terner were also on the alleged list. Head of Workers’ Union Yair Katz was an alleged target too.
Israel government inquiry into claims
Following the revelations, the Naftali Bennet government in Israel has announced that a state commission of inquiry will be set up to probe the claims. Cabinet ministers and politicians have termed these allegations “disturbing and deeply concerning”.
Public Security Minister, Omer Barlev, meanwhile, intends to set up a government-appointed commission of inquiry to probe the claims.
Unlike a state commission of inquiry, a government commission does not require approval by the full cabinet for its establishment.
In January, Calcalist had published reports detailing how Israel’s Police used the spyware against Israeli citizens since 2013 without a judicial warrant or court order.
On 1 February, Israel Police admitted to misuse of the spyware and law enforcement sources told Haaretz that the misuse took place during former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich’s tenure.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
Also read: Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become