Israeli police allegedly used Pegasus spyware against local journalists

Israel is reportedly investigating the use of Pegasus spyware by its police force to hack phone numbers belonging to Israeli journalists, among others. 

As reported in the Israeli daily The Calcalist on Monday, Israeli police used spyware to monitor Aviram Elad, former editor-in-chief of Israeli news site Walla, as well as unnamed other Walla journalists. During the investigation in one of the alleged corruption cases involving the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, police deployed spyware without warrants, according to a report. Also included in the report was the alleged use of spyware against Israeli chief executives, activists, political advisers, as well as Netanyahu's son.

Kobi Shabtai, the Police Commissioner, responded to the Calcalist report by saying the force had acquired cyber-technology from a third-party company, but he did not confirm or deny its use.

He said that all monitoring activities were carried out in compliance with the law.

The newspaper reported, however, that police used spyware against protesters, including those who took part in the "Black Flag" protests last year, which demanded that then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign. Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption charges that he has continually denied.

Legislator Meirav Ben Ari told Channel 12 TV news that the parliamentary public security committee she chairs will question police about the Calcalist report as soon as next week.

According to the Pegasus Project, which was conducted by an international journalist consortium last year, at least 180 journalists were named as potential Pegasus targets. Journalists across the globe have reported being targeted by Pegasus spyware. 

*This article contains information sourced from AlJazeera.