AL-QUDS (AFP) – The Zionist regime’s police used Pegasus spyware to hack phones of dozens of ‘prominent’ figures in the occupied territories, including a son of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, activists and senior regime officials, a newspaper reported Monday.
The bombshell revelation is the latest from the business daily Calcalist, which had previously reported that police used Pegasus without court authorization against leaders of an anti-Netanyahu protest movement.
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said that “following the recent publications” he had asked public security minister Omer Barlev to establish “an external and independent commission of inquiry, headed by a judge,” to probe the allegations.
“To the extent that the commission finds irregularities and failures, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” Shabtai said in a statement.
Pegasus is a malware product made by the Zionist firm NSO at the center of a months-long international scandal following revelations that it was used by governments worldwide to spy on activists, politicians, journalists and even heads of state.
The occupying regime had come under fire for allowing the export of the invasive technology to states with poor human rights records, but the Calcalist revelations have triggered a domestic scandal and multiple regime investigations.
Prior to Monday’s report, the attorney general, comptroller and the ministry of judiciary affair’s privacy watchdog have all announced probes into the potential use of Pegasus on people in the occupied territories.
In its latest report, Calcalist said dozens of people were targeted who were not suspected of any criminal conduct, and without police receiving the necessary court approval.
They include senior leaders of the finance, judiciary affairs and communication ministries, mayors, and Ethiopians who led protests against police misconduct.
In another revelation set to rock Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, Calcalist also reported that key witness Ilan Yeshua, former chief executive of the Walla news site, was also target.
Avner Netanyahu, one of the Zionist premier’s sons, was also on the list. “I truly am shocked,” he wrote on Facebook.