Comptroller Pursuing Parallel Probe of Police Phone Hacking

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman reiterated his pledge to carry out a thorough investigation of the claims that Police used Pegasus spyware against Israeli citizens without authorization.

“Maintaining privacy is a cornerstone of a democratic state,” said Englman in comments at a conference in Yerushalayim on Thursday. “We will carry out an in-depth examination of all the conduct of law enforcement agencies through technological means.”

Englman’s statement came a day after Channel 12 reported that an initial Justice Ministry review of the allegations has so far found that the police did not use Pegasus spyware as widely as the recent Calcalist claimed in the reports that caused an uproar, and that its use was limited to 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.

Sa’ar told Channel 13 on Thursday night that “in order to set up a commission of inquiry, a factual basis must be established.”

“At the moment there is still no basis that justifies it,” but, he added, if future evidence emerges, “I will not hesitate to go for it.”

Addressing the question of redundancy, Englman said he respects the work of the Justice Ministry, but says “there is an importance for an audit of the State Comptroller, which is an independent body.”

Meanwhile, lawyers for former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu filed a petition to the court to order prosecutors to turn over information illegally obtained from the phone of key state’s witness Shlomo Filber, the former director of the Communications Ministry.

Prosecutors have admitted that Filber’s phone was hacked with the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware without appropriate judicial oversight, but claimed that no relevant information was found or used in the case and therefore the trial should proceed without further delay.

On Thursday night, thousands answered Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu’s call to take to the streets to “ensure the future of our country” against the wielders of spyware in government.

According to The Times of Israel, “many Likud MKs attend the event, but Netanyahu himself is absent. He sends a video that is played on a screen, saying that “for reasons I cannot get into, I can’t be with you in Habima Square.”