Newspaper says deputy AG who probed its alleged police spying scoop had skin in game

Israel’s Calcalist newspaper is calling for an independent investigation into allegations that police used phone hacking technology to illicitly spy on people not suspected of any crime, saying that a justice official’s probe was tainted.

Investigations by police and by Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari found the reporting to have been largely incorrect, with none of the 26 people supposedly hacked having actually been targeted by police.

The paper says that its sources passed info to Marari about the alleged police hacking but they were ignored.

It also notes the clear conflict in interest in having those accused of wrongdoing investigate themselves, saying that the conclusions of Merari’s probe was based on claims by those in the police spying unit. And it contends that Merari’s investigation “skipped” key aspects of the alleged spying program.

But it also offers a mea culpa of sorts. “There is also the possibility that there were mistakes in our list. So long as conditions are not ripe for testifying with immunity, we can’t publicly display our proof that the list is correct,” it says cryptically.

“Given the conflict of interest by the prosecution, an independent investigator should be appointed,” the paper says.

In February, Calcalist reported, without providing evidence, that dozens of high-profile figures — including former ministry directors, prominent business figures and family members and associates of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu — were spied on by police using the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware without any judicial oversight.