Civil Rights
‘Israel is Spying on Israelis": How Israeli Courts Approved Thousands of Illegal Police Wiretaps
13,000 wiretaps in three years, automatic judicial approval due to technological ignorance, and severe privacy violations of witnesses and victims. State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman releases a scathing report determining: "Severe actions were taken... Primary legislation is needed immediately."
Four years after the NSO "Pegasus" scandal first shook the country, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman released a fierce report on Tuesday exposing fundamental, systemic, and ongoing failures in how the Israel Police utilizes advanced technological surveillance tools.
The report, covering the years 2011-2021, paints a worrying picture of a digital "Wild West": the use of intrusive technologies without legal regulation, a near-automatic rubber-stamping by judges, and privacy violations of citizens who were never suspects at all.
The "Rubber Stamp": 90% of Requests Approved
One of the most alarming statistics in the report concerns the ease with which the police obtain approval to infiltrate mobile phones and computers.
Between 2019 and 2021, the police submitted approximately 14,000 wiretap requests. Over 90% of them (12,937 requests) were approved by the courts.
The Comptroller notes that the judicial system suffers from a "limited understanding" of the technological capabilities being deployed. This lack of knowledge leads to sweeping approvals without sufficient critical examination of the intrusiveness of the tools used.
Collateral Damage: Spying on Victims
The report reveals that the police engaged in information "fishing expeditions." In the vast majority of requests (89%), the police marked multiple grounds for wiretapping simultaneously rather than pinpointing a specific cause, making it difficult for the court to assess necessity.
Even more severe, the Comptroller found that wiretaps were conducted not only on suspects but also on "non-suspect targets", including indirect associates, witnesses, and even victims of crime.
The report highlights a deceptive pattern: Police would list the names of the actual suspects at the top of the warrant request forms, while the names of innocent citizens whose privacy would be violated were "buried" in the reasoning section. Regarding minors, no regulations were found to provide unique protection, despite their increasing use of smartphones.
"Offensive Actions" Without Oversight
Comptroller Englman stated unequivocally: "The audit revealed the execution of forbidden actions by the police." Among the findings:
Police Response: "Handcuffing the Fight Against Crime"
Both the Police and legal authorities are rolling the responsibility onto the legislature. Legal sources argue that existing laws are archaic (some not updated since 2012) and that bills to regulate spyware are stuck due to political disputes, specifically, the refusal of the political echelon to allow spyware use in public corruption cases (such as bribery).
The Israel Police stated in response: "All events examined were carried out according to the law and judicial warrants. The deficiencies presented in the report relate to past years and have already been addressed following the Marari Committee report in 2023. The absence of appropriate legislation and technological tools handcuffs the police in their fight against serious crime and harms public safety."