Israeli min denies use of spyware to surveil protesters

JERUSALEM: An Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday dismissed claims that police used controversial spyware to surveil protesters, a day after a newspaper investigation prompted outraged lawmakers to seek a formal inquiry.

On Tuesday, a Hebrew-language business paper published allegations that the Israel Police used NSO Group spyware to hack the phones of the leaders of protests against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, municipal leaders and other citizens without proper oversight. The police denied the report’s findings and said they operate according to the law, and the NSO Group said it does not identify its clients.

Pegasus, the sophisticated spyware made by the Israeli spyware company, has been linked to snooping on human rights activists, journalists and politicians across the globe. The US has barred the group from American technology, saying its products have been used by repressive regimes.

Omer Barlev, the minister in charge of the police, told Army Radio on Wednesday that after looking into the matter, most of the claims “are simply erroneous”.

“There was no surveillance, no hacking of any phone of any protester in any protest,” Barlev said.

“It’s against the law.” Israel’s justice minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said at a parliamentary hearing that there was an “unbridgeable gap” between the newspaper report and the police’s statements, and that the attorney general was also investigating the claims raised in the article.

Sa’ar said the justice ministry was not aware of any instances of surveillance without court authorisation, but said it was important this matter was under independent investigation by the country’s State Comptroller.

Meanwhile, Israeli police on Wednesday evicted Palestinian residents from a disputed property in a flashpoint Jerusalem neighbourhood and demolished the building, days after a tense standoff. The predawn demolition took place in Sheikh Jarrah, an east Jerusalem neighbourhood where attempts by Jewish settlers to evict long-time Palestinian residents have sparked protests that last year helped lead to an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants.