Edited by: TJVNews.com

Israel’s police commissioner cut short an official foreign trip Tuesday and rushed home to deal with a growing scandal over reports of illegal spying, including on members of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, according to an AP report.

Under mounting pressure, Kobi Shabtai returned early Tuesday from the United Arab Emirates, where the police forces were to establish professional ties during a longer visit. The decision came a day after a local newspaper reported that police illegally used spyware, including on the phones of Netanyahu’s son and others, prompting a high-level investigation and upending the opposition leader’s corruption trial.

“In light of recent publications and in order to keep a close eye on developments, the commissioner will shorten his visit,” the police said in a statement, noting that Shabtai supports an investigation headed by a judge. The national police force, the statement added, “has nothing to hide from the public.”

The AP reported that Netanyahu is in the midst of a lengthy corruption trial over charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. In the initial report by Israeli Channel 13 last week, police were said to have used spyware to collect information off the witness’ phone without first obtaining authorization, sparking an uproar.

Netanyahu’s lawyers have demanded answers from the state about what was gathered and how. The report has reenergized Netanyahu’s supporters, who have long seen the trial as part of a conspiracy to topple the polarizing former leader. Even Netanyahu’s political opponents are outraged, according to the AP report.

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, according to a report on the NDTV.com web site.

Pegasus is a malware product made by the Israeli 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 NDTV report described it as a surveillance program that can switch on a phone’s camera or microphone and harvest its data.

The AP reported that Pegasus allows operators to quietly infiltrate a target’s mobile phone and gain access to the device’s contents, including real-time communications. Other Israeli companies have also produced powerful spying tools.

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, as was reported by NDTV.

Israel 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 state investigations.

NDTV reported that prior to Monday’s report, the attorney general, state comptroller and the justice ministry’s privacy watchdog have all announced probes into the potential use of Pegasus on Israelis.

On Monday, the outlet claimed that Pegasus had become “one of the most used tools for intelligence collection in the hands of the police” and had been used against politicians, protesters, business moguls, ministry directors and Netanyahu’s close advisers and son. Like previous reports, the paper cited no sources, but for the first time named people allegedly surveilled by the police.

They include senior leaders of the finance, justice and communication ministries, mayors, and Ethiopian-Israelis who led protests against alleged police misconduct, as was reported by NDTV.

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, as was reported by NDTV.

Avner Netanyahu, one of the premier’s sons, was also on the list. “I truly am shocked,” he wrote on Facebook.

Netanyahu is accused of seeking to trade regulatory favors with media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage, including on Walla. He denies the charges.

The NDTV reported said that his lawyers on Monday demanded the trial be halted until the latest revelations were probed.

The trial also suffered a blow last week when multiple Israeli broadcasters reported that police may have used spyware on Shlomo Filber, a former Netanyahu ally turned state witness, as was reported by NDTV.

Those reports, which Netanyahu described as an “earthquake”, did not mention Pegasus.

The AP reported that the police denied the allegations and on Tuesday said no evidence of illegal activity had been uncovered. But the reports drew condemnation from across Israel’s political spectrum. They threw Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial into disarray after a key witness was named as a victim of the alleged hack.

The court hearing the case against Netanyahu said it was cancelling the next session, scheduled for Tuesday, and would await answers from the prosecution about the hacking allegations before deciding whether proceedings would resume on Wednesday, as was reported by Al Jazeera. The AP reported that a second consecutive hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, was canceled.

Amnon Lord, a columnist at the Israel Hayom daily, called for a mistrial.

“This is a black day for the state of Israel,” said Netanyahu, according to the AP report. “Without referring to my issue, which of course has wide implications, I think this case concerns all citizens of the country – not right, not left, all citizens of the country without exception. Something inconceivable has happened here.”

Netanyahu demanded a “strong and independent investigation” into the alleged misuse of the spyware.

On Monday, Bennett promised government action, according to the Al Jazeera report.

“We won’t leave this without a response. Things allegedly happened here that are very serious,” Bennett said in a statement that also defended Pegasus, which can turn a phone into a pocket spying device, as an “important tool in the fight against terrorism”.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of Bennett’s coalition called for an external commission of inquiry to be set up, as was reported by Al Jazeera.

This was echoed by centrist Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata and liberal Environment Minister Tamar Zandberg, the latter of whom urged on Twitter: “Commission of inquiry, no excuses or semantics,” according to the Al Jazeera report.

Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, who oversees the nation’s police force, announced a government commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge to “investigate in depth the violation of civil rights and privacy in the years in question.” He said the alleged violations appear to have been carried out under former officials in previous governments, according to the AP report.

The AP reported that Israel’s previous police chief, Roni Alsheikh, who was in command during much of the alleged snooping, made his first comments since the reports were published. The Hebrew news website Ynet quoted him denying any wrongdoing, adding that any surveillance of a public official’s phone would require the attorney general’s approval and that any use of spyware would be logged. He called the report “the most superficial there is.”

It remains unclear whether any of the information allegedly gathered was used against Netanyahu. Also unclear is whether any of the information allegedly gathered was used against the former prime minister, as was reported by the AP.

Barlev’s probe follows announcements by Israeli police and the attorney general’s office that they would investigate. Last week, police for the first time acknowledged finding evidence pointing to improper use of spyware.

The AP reported that officials have not said which spyware was used. But Calcalist said it was Pegasus. NSO has been mired in controversy after the spyware was linked to eavesdropping on journalists, activists and politicians in several countries.

The newspaper said police used the spyware to gather intelligence before any investigation had been opened — and without judicial warrants.

The AP reported that NSO does not disclose its clients and says it does not have access to the intelligence they collect or control how its products are used. It says all of its sales are approved by Israel’s Defense Ministry and that its technology is used by governments to combat crime and terrorism.

NSO says all of its sales are approved by Israel’s Defense Ministry. Such sales have reportedly played a key role in Israel’s development of ties with Arab states in the Gulf.

Aluf Benn, editor of the far-left wing Haaretz daily, said it was a surprising twist that Netanyahu was now portraying himself as a victim, according to the Al Jazeera report.

“What an irony: The man who leveraged Pegasus for foreign-policy gains now believes he lost his domestic power on account of the spyware,” he wrote.

The AP reported that Netanyahu appointed both Mandelblit and Alsheikh, the former police chief, and while in office he reportedly promoted Pegasus to strengthen ties with Gulf Arab states and other authoritarian governments. Now, he believes that same product was used against him.

Netanyahu has long accused law enforcement of unfairly targeting him.

Addressing parliament on Monday, Netanyahu said it was “completely inconceivable” that the police would use “the most aggressive tools in the world” to surveil citizens, as was reported by the AP.

“Spyware meant for thwarting terrorism and fighting our enemies turned into a daily tool by officials in the police to spy on citizens in breach of every norm and every law,” he said. “Who knows what kind of improper use was made with this espionage.”

(Sources: AP, NDTVc.om, Al Jazeera)