Israel Attorney-General’s Office requests government to overturn spyware inquiry

The Israeli Attorney-General’s Office requested the High Court of Justice on Tuesday to overturn the government’s decision to create a Commission of Inquiry into the alleged illegal use of spyware by law enforcement, arguing it operates outside the law.

According to The Times of Israel, the office is concerned that the Commission aims to discredit the handling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption case. It argued that allowing the commission to review parts of Netanyahu’s investigation exceeds executive authority and encroaches on the judiciary.

Israeli Justice Minister, Yariv Levin, defended the Commission, stating it cannot intervene in active criminal cases and that the government has broad discretion in forming such panels.

The Commission was established in August 2023 to investigate the alleged misuse of spyware by law enforcement against Israeli citizens and officials.

Petitions were filed by the Black Robes anti-judicial overhaul protest group against the Commission’s creation, arguing it could interfere with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial. Attorney-General, Gali Baharav-Miara, opposed the Commission reviewing activities related to Netanyahu’s investigation or any active criminal cases.

“No political or any other official has the authority to trespass the boundaries of the judiciary and the law enforcement system, to harm their independence, or in general to serve as an extrajudicial body that establishes findings regarding individual criminal cases or constitutes, directly or indirectly, another court of inquiry,” the Attorney-General’s Office insisted in its response to the petition.

“Authorising a committee on behalf of the government to examine individual criminal cases, including pending cases, bypasses the basic rules of government, without authority, without a basis in law, while creating authority to intervene and influence criminal cases, out of nowhere,” it said.

In response, Levin stated that the Commission neither intends nor has the authority to interfere in ongoing legal cases.

He said, “Nowhere in the government’s decision is it said that the committee is supposed to or can intervene in pending legal proceedings and presume to give instructions to judicial courts hearing those cases.”

Justice Minister, Yariv Levin, further argued that blocking a government inquiry into alleged law enforcement misconduct would leave no other way to address such claims. He noted that the government has wide discretion in establishing commissions, with judicial review being limited to exceptional cases.

The spyware inquiry is investigating police and State Attorney’s Office use of cyber tools like Pegasus. In 2022, Calcalist newspaper reported that police spied on prominent figures, including Netanyahu associates, without judicial oversight.

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