Rothman blasts Shabtai for blaming journalists for disabling police hacking

Published: MAY 23, 2023 19:20

Updated: MAY 23, 2023 19:53

Israel Police Chief Kobi Shabtai and head of Jerusalem police district Doron Turgeman meet with press near the Damascus gate, following the recent days of clashes between jewish right-wing extremists and Palestinians, April 24, 2021 (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) — Israel Police Chief Kobi Shabtai and head of Jerusalem police district Doron Turgeman meet with press near the Damascus gate, following the recent days of clashes between jewish right-wing extremists and Palestinians, April 24, 2021

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

In hearings on the NSO scandal report held in the Law Committee, politicians said that between 1080-1800 phones were hacked, and the software enabled access to information beyond simple wiretapping.

After stating that news reports about the NSO scandal disabled critical police capabilities, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai was blasted by Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman on Tuesday.

Calcalist reports on police use of the Pegasus and malware disabled “a critical police capability that does not exist at all in the police,” Rothman mocked Shabtai’s comments. “Blaming the person who revealed that the police used a tool illegally and without authority is a special kind of insolence.”

Rothman said that former police chief Ron Alsheikh had lied about the use of spyware.

“The conclusions of the [Deputy Attorney General Amit] Marari report raised very difficult questions about the procurement procedures in the police and the use of spyware,” said Rothman.

The hearing on the use of spyware by Israeli police

In hearings on the NSO scandal report held in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, politicians said that between 1080 to 1800 phones were hacked, and the software enabled access to information beyond simple wiretapping. The report revealed that chat logs, app history, notes and other stored information could be accessed using the police programs.

An aerial view shows the logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel, July 22, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

Likud MK Moshe Saada – a former deputy of the Police Internal Investigations Unit (Machash) – said on Tuesday that the police chief “should take responsibility for his organization and also act in his department for a commission of inquiry that will look into the matter and do justice instead of placing blame on journalists who did their job and served the public.”

During the hearings, Saada said that Machash should have investigated the use of police spying, and Rothman and other politicians called for further government inquiries. Rothman reiterated his calls for government inquiries on Tuesday.

According to Haaretz, it was said at the Reichman University Conference said that the Calcalist’s reports disabled “critical police capabilities for over a year,” and that “there is no logic that the technology entrusted to the police would be inferior in its effectiveness to the tools that exist in the civilian market and in the world.”