The former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is under a cloud yet again with the reported allegation that the country’s police had used spyware on the phone of one of his sons, and of members of his “inner circle”, activists and officials.
Sophisticated spyware was alleged to have been used by the police against protesters and other Israeli citizens, provoking condemnation from across the political spectrum. The allegation could arguably undermine Netanyahu’s corruption trial in the context of reports that a key witness was under spyware surveillance. “Very serious,” was the reaction of the incumbent Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett.
A government inquiry commission, headed by a retired judge, has been constituted to “investigate in depth the violation of civil rights and privacy in the years in question”. The alleged violations appear to have been carried out under former officials in previous governments. The report in Calcalist stated that the police used spyware against a phone registered to Netanyahu’s son, Avner, as well as two communications advisers in one of the three corruption cases against the former PM. They happen to be among several prominent figures to have been targeted with spyware, including business leaders, former directors of ministries and mayors.
Also targeted were the organizers of demonstrations on behalf of disabled people and Israel’s Ethiopian minority. Police used the powerful Pegasus software developed by the Israeli firm, NSO Group, which is mired in controversy after its spyware was linked to eavesdropping on journalists, activists and politicians in several countries.
Police allegedly used the spyware to gather intelligence before any investigation had been opened and without judicial warrants. Bennett, who replaced Netanyahu as Prime Minister last June, said Pegasus and “other products are important tools in the fight against terrorism and severe crime,” but they were not intended to be used in what they call ‘phishing campaigns’ targeting the Israeli public and officials. “Which is why we need to understand what exactly happened,” Mr Bennett said in a statement.
Altogether, the episode mirrors the conduct of the government in Tel-Aviv. Echoing the call for an investigation was Isreal’s President, Isaac Herzog, who said “We must not lose our democracy.” Not wholly unrelated is the new proposal, articulated by Israeli and Palestinian “public figures”, on a two-state confederation that they hope will offer a way forward after the stalemate in the Middle East peace talks.
The plan bristles with controversial proposals and it is far from clear whether it has any support from leaders on either side of the fence. The plan envisages an independent state of Palestine in most of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, verily territories seized in the Mideast war on 1967. The plan, which will be advanced to the United States and the UN Secretary-General, also envisages separate governments for Israel and Palestine; both will coordinate on security, infrastructure and other issues that can impinge on the populations of both countries.