<p>Police used Pegasus spyware to hack phones of dozens of prominent Israelis, including a son of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, activists and senior government officials, an Israeli newspaper reported Monday.</p>.<p>The bombshell revelation is the latest from the business daily Calcalist, which had previously reported that police used Pegasus without court authorisation against leaders of an anti-Netanyahu protest movement.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>Pegasus is a malware product made by the Israeli firm NSO at the centre 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.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/no-information-available-with-us-mea-on-pegasus-row-1077829.html">No information available with us: MEA on Pegasus row</a></strong></p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>In its latest report, Calcalist said dozens of people were targeted who were not suspected of any criminal conduct, and without police receiving the necessary court approval.</p>.<p>They include senior leaders of the finance, justice and communication ministries, mayors, and Ethiopian-Israelis who led protests against alleged police misconduct.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Avner Netanyahu, one of the premier's sons, was also on the list. "I truly am shocked," he wrote on Facebook.</p>.<p>Netanyahu is accused of seeking to trade regulatory favours with media moguls in exchange for favourable coverage, including on Walla. He denies the charges.</p>.<p>His lawyers on Monday demanded the trial be halted until the latest revelations were probed.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Those reports, which Netanyahu described as an "earthquake", did not mention Pegasus.</p>.<p>Pegasus is a surveillance program that can switch on a phone's camera or microphone and harvest its data.</p>.<p>NSO has consistently denied wrongdoing throughout the multi-stranded Pegasus scandal, stressing that it does not operate the system once sold to clients and has no access to any of the data collected.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Police used Pegasus spyware to hack phones of dozens of prominent Israelis, including a son of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, activists and senior government officials, an Israeli newspaper reported Monday.</p>.<p>The bombshell revelation is the latest from the business daily Calcalist, which had previously reported that police used Pegasus without court authorisation against leaders of an anti-Netanyahu protest movement.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>Pegasus is a malware product made by the Israeli firm NSO at the centre 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.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/no-information-available-with-us-mea-on-pegasus-row-1077829.html">No information available with us: MEA on Pegasus row</a></strong></p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>In its latest report, Calcalist said dozens of people were targeted who were not suspected of any criminal conduct, and without police receiving the necessary court approval.</p>.<p>They include senior leaders of the finance, justice and communication ministries, mayors, and Ethiopian-Israelis who led protests against alleged police misconduct.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Avner Netanyahu, one of the premier's sons, was also on the list. "I truly am shocked," he wrote on Facebook.</p>.<p>Netanyahu is accused of seeking to trade regulatory favours with media moguls in exchange for favourable coverage, including on Walla. He denies the charges.</p>.<p>His lawyers on Monday demanded the trial be halted until the latest revelations were probed.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Those reports, which Netanyahu described as an "earthquake", did not mention Pegasus.</p>.<p>Pegasus is a surveillance program that can switch on a phone's camera or microphone and harvest its data.</p>.<p>NSO has consistently denied wrongdoing throughout the multi-stranded Pegasus scandal, stressing that it does not operate the system once sold to clients and has no access to any of the data collected.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>