The investigation team, headed by Amit Merri, Deputy Attorney General (Criminal) and with the participation of two retired GSS division heads, was appointed to examine various allegations made in the media about alleged illegal use of the Israel Police’s means of wiretapping. Hereinafter also: contagion), submitted his findings to the Attorney General.
The team, which was also assisted by technological experts, examined whether mobile phones belonging to any of the list of people published in the media had been infected, using “Pegasus” software used by the Israel Police (Saifan), without a court order.
Upon completion of the comprehensive technological examination of the examination team and the technological experts, which also relied on information received from experts of the company NSOIt turned out that there was no indication that the Israel Police had infected, using a Pegasus software in its possession, without a court order, a telephone of any of the list of people published in the media.
According to the information provided to the team, there are orders for wiretapping between computers regarding three of the people who appeared on the published list, with two of them according to the team’s findings indeed an infection attempt was made, and only about one of the two for which the infection order was successful.
The test was also performed in relation to another system that came into use recently, which also in its case was no indication that an infection or attempts were made to infect the mobile phones of any of the list of people published.
It should also be noted that an in-depth technological test was performed on the Pegasus system and the additional system also in relation to the mobile telephones in the possession of the three former general managers of government ministries whose names were published, among other things using data provided by the team.
BThis check also revealed that there was no indication that the Israel Police had wiretapped their cell phones by means of computer-to-computer communications, in the police systems examined.
These in-depth and comprehensive inspections required a number of inspection rounds in front of the company as well and extended the inspection procedure beyond the planned one.
Calcalist system response
The findings of the interim report of the investigation team, headed by Deputy Attorney General Amit Merri, require serious consideration and re-examination of the findings and allegations we published in Calcalist, and this is what was done. Due to the short time between the date of publication of the interim report tonight and the time the newspaper went to print, such an examination has not yet been done. When we finish it, we will not hesitate to repair as much as is required.
At the same time, the interim report completely validates Calcalist’s exposure, according to which the police use super-invasive attack spyware to steal civilians’ phones. The orders given for wiretapping do not confer legal authority to operate such spyware, and a significant amendment of the law is needed. The report also mentions another spy, besides that of NSO (whose name is not mentioned), who also used the police for this purpose.
To the best of our knowledge, the determination in the interim report that there was no pasting of the phones of most of the people mentioned in the list rests on technological tests, and not on a DIP investigation of the spy operators. On the face of it, the team appears to have relied on its conclusions on materials transferred to it from the police and the NSO company.
It is also important to say that the interim report deals exclusively with the Semitic list published in Calcalist. As noted in his Sifa, the team has not yet examined many of the key issues raised in the investigations. The wording of the report by the authors of the report itself indicates the problematic nature of these issues: “The police’s occupation and handling of wiretapping In the hands of the Israel Police, the existence of indications for exceeding authority, supervision and control in real time and in retrospect on all stages of police work in the field. “