Israel PM says it is still unclear if reported police spyware abuses happened

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday it was still not clear if reported abuses by Israeli police of a powerful spyware had actually happened, and that he believed a high-level inquiry would clarify matters “soon”.

The government ramped up scrutiny on police after a newspaper report on Monday which said the Pegasus hacking tool made by Israel’s NSO Group had been used without court warrants against 26 high-profile citizens. The report, in Calcalist business daily, cited no sources. Last month the same newspaper reported past use of Pegasus by police against Israeli citizens, adding domestic turmoil to long-running allegations the tool had been abused by foreign clients of NSO Group.

NSO says all its sales are government-authorised and that it does not itself run Pegasus. “What was published is grave … but we still don’t know if it really happened,” Bennett told reporters, adding that the matter “will be checked from all angles”.

“I believe we will get an answer soon,” he said.