Journalist who broke Israel's police Pegasus story defends reporting

'I have not risked my good name as a result of gullibility, but only because I checked the facts'

The Israeli journalist who led the report on the police's alleged use of Pegasus spyware on civilians defended his reporting on Saturday as many doubt the accuracy of the now-infamous article.

Israel's business daily, Calcalist, made allegations earlier this month that Israel's police used spyware without court approval, met with calls for investigation from across Israel.

Probes by police and the deputy attorney general were said to disprove the unsourced claims, causing officials to backpedal.

Calcalist reporter Tomer Ganon said on Twitter on Saturday, “I swore to my sources: I will protect you until the full truth comes out. I pledged: I will protect everything that is dear to you — freedom, family, careers because you chose not to be silent and to uncover the truth,” The Times of Israel reported.

“I have not risked my good name as a result of gullibility, but only because I checked the facts,” he said.

Not long after issuing the statement, his account was disabled. It is unknown if Ganon deleted his account or Twitter removed it.

Some call on Ganon to provide more evidence to back up his allegations as police and justice officials said that probes did not find any evidence of police wrongdoing.

Politicians, as well as other media outlets, have called on Calcalist to provide evidence supporting the claims.