In the third part of its shocking éxpose about Israel Police’s use of the NSO’s Pegasus spyware on Israeli citizens, Calcalist revealed on Sunday that the police spied on at least three mayors and their relatives and associates.

The police suspected the three mayors of corruption but no evidence was found in any of the three cases, which were investigated in 2016.

In one case, after the police tapped a mayor’s phone and found no evidence of wrongdoing, they decided to tap his wife’s phone. When investigators found that the mayor’s wife had been talking to a contractor’s wife, they applied for wiretapping orders and search warrants in court, despite the fact that the phone conversations were completely innocent, telling the judge that intelligence information shows that the mayor is communicating with the contractor through his wife for nefarious purposes.

Police eventually arrested the mayor for alleged bribery and he spent several nights in jail but the case was later closed due to lack of evidence.

Israel Police responded to the report: “We act only in accordance with the law. All police actions in the context of wiretapping are carried out only through orders lawfully issued by a judge. If there are materials that indicate an offense has been committed, we request that they be transferred to the authorities as soon as possible.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)