State Comptroller to Examine Conduct of Police, Justice Ministry and State Attorney’s Office on Spying Scandal

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman lambasted reports on the use of surveillance software on citizens as “the trampling of democratic values and a serious blow to privacy.”

He said his office would examine the issue, “and it will not only examine the police but also the Justice Ministry and the State Attorney’s office.

“I believe it is important to examine this issue in depth. We will examine the sector’s limits with a state commission of inquiry or another committee that is established.”

Meanwhile, a former justice system official in an interview with Israel Hayom did not mince words when it came to reports the Israel Police had used Pegasus surveillance software to hack into civilians’ phones.

“The State Attorney’s Office and the police knowingly hid information from the court and in violation of the law,” the former official told Israel Hayom. “This is not an earthquake but a total meltdown of the system. If up until this morning I thought I was living in a democratic state, now I’m not so sure.”

The official explained that “every serious police investigation has an accompanying attorney. It cannot be that they don’t have knowledge of such surveilling and that they didn’t receive the necessary court authorization. It’s one thing to reveal partial information to the court to receive a wiretapping order without disclosing the full picture, and it’s an entirely different thing to do such a thing without any order at all, in a way that is illegal and by state officials – and not just one time, not in a pinpoint manner, but as a matter of policy and routine practice. There are no words to describe how grave such conduct is, which is befitting dark regimes.”

The official continued: “Imagine a situation in which the State Attorney’s Office and the police work hand in hand and defraud the judges. That would be unimaginable, and yet that is what we’re talking about. That’s what happened.”

The official warned that what the public has learned so far is likely “just the tip of the iceberg,” and the troubling phenomenon may be more widespread than reported.

“The police didn’t just act in violation of the law, it also concealed this when word began to get out. At first, they said all the orders were issued in accordance with the law, later that there may have been some exceptions. Now it’s a whole wave, and there’s no reason to believe we won’t get to thousands of all kinds of wiretaps of innocent citizens…,” the official said.

They noted that “the phenomenon began following Commissioner Roni Alsheich’s entry into the organization, and we’re talking about many years that this has been going on without any oversight and without the knowledge of the authorities in charge. Journalists, social activists, protesters, government members, people in public service, CEOs, business people, and in effect anyone the police decided was of interest. Alsheich [who previously served in the Shin Bet] did not make the transition from spy organization to the police in a democratic regime.”

Asked about the impact of the report on the trials of Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said, “The State Attorney’s office and the police are working here together. It’s inconceivable for the State Attorney’s Office not to have known what happened with [key state witness and ex-director-general of the Communications Ministry Shlomo] Filber’s investigation, for example. And I can’t comment any further on other witnesses, but if this happened with him, one can assume it happened with a number of characters connected to the affair. There are accompanying attorneys at the most senior levels. There’s no such thing as passing information from side to side without them knowing about it.

“This is a disgrace for a democratic regime,” the official said. Something I never in my wildest dreams thought would happen, we’ve gotten to. These are dark days for all those whose hearts are with democracy. It’s just heartbreaking.”

Commenting on Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s treatment of the issue, the official said, “I believed his intentions were pure, as we’ve known each other well over the years. This is an honest man who has the good of the country and the system in mind. But when they put attorney Amit Marari, who was a member of the prosecution team involved in the affair, at the head of the investigative committee, it looks bad. It’s as if they decided to in advance to wrap it up.”

He further said, “These are organizations that close ranks to defend and back each other up, but I hoped that this wouldn’t stick to the head of the organization. In my opinion, there is no avoiding a state commission of inquiry. Only it [a state commission of inquiry] can investigate the affair in depth and restore even a little bit of public trust in the system, even if takes a long time.”

In a statement, the Israel Police said that “earlier today, Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai contacted the public security minister and asked him to order the establishment of an external and independent investigative committee headed by a judge to examine all aspects of the issue.

“The Israel Police will cooperate fully and transparently with the committee, and to the extent irregularities or failures are found, they will be handled in accordance with the law.”