Minister Denies Police Used NSO Spyware on Protesters

Minister of Public Security Omer Barlev on Wednesday dismissed claims that police used controversial spyware to surveil protesters, a day after a newspaper investigation prompted outraged lawmakers to seek a formal inquiry.

On Tuesday, Calcalist published allegations that Israel Police used NSO Group spyware to hack the phones of the leaders of protests against former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, municipal leaders and other citizens without proper oversight. The police denied the report’s findings and said they operate according to the law, and the NSO Group said it does not identify its clients.

Pegasus, the sophisticated spyware made by the Israeli spyware company, has been linked to snooping on human rights activists, journalists and politicians across the globe. The U.S. has barred the group from American technology, saying its products have been used by repressive regimes.

Barlev told Army Radio on Wednesday that after looking into the matter, most of the claims “are simply erroneous.”

“There was no surveillance, no hacking of any phone of any protester in any protest,” Barlev said. “It’s against the law.”

He said the attorney general had asked the police to respond formally to the examples mentioned in the article.

The report claims drew widespread outcry across Israel’s political spectrum. MKs called for formal parliamentary investigations into the matter, and State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman said his office would look into the allegations of unauthorized digital surveillance by the police for an upcoming report.