Israel accused of using Pegasus spyware against its own citizens
Spyware from the Israeli group NSO has been sold to certain countries to spy on journalists, activists and politicians.
Tel Aviv is accused of using it against its own citizens.
Joel SagetAFP/Archivos
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
According to the Israeli daily
Calcalist
, this spyware from the Israeli group NSO was used by the Israeli police outside any legal framework, and in order to spy on Israeli citizens.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Sami Boukhelifa
Suspect of murder or simple organizer of demonstration, no difference: the Israeli police are accused of having spied on Israeli citizens without distinction, reveals the daily
Calcalist
.
The use of Pegasus spyware is not prohibited in Israel, but it is regulated by law.
In principle, a warrant and the supervision of a judge are required to use it.
The Israeli police would therefore have taken liberties by freeing themselves from legal protocols, in order to spy, for example, on political opponents of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the daily.
►
Also to listen: “Pegasus” scandal: “This software is used to monitor the population at large”
The police deny these accusations
The Israeli police deny these revelations en bloc and claim to act in accordance with the legislation of the Jewish state.
Until then, the phones of several Palestinian
human rights activists
had been infected with the spyware, but there had been no evidence that it had been used against Israeli citizens.
According to
Calcalist
, the Israel Police made heavy use of Pegasus after the appointment at the end of 2015 of a former senior official of Shin Beth, Israel's internal intelligence.
Since last year, Pegasus has been at the heart of a global spy scandal.
Sold to certain countries, including
Morocco
, the spyware would have been used to steal data from the phones of journalists, activists and even politicians.
Among which is the French President Emmanuel Macron.
►
To read also: Pegasus, an Israeli software used to spy on journalists and activists around the world
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Israel
Pegasus
Cybercriminality
Human rights