Israel’s national police force on Tuesday said it had found evidence pointing to improper use of sophisticated spyware by its own investigators to snoop on Israeli citizens’ phones.

The announcement came two weeks after an Israeli newspaper reported a string of instances of the police using the NSO Group’s Pegasus software to surveil protesters, politicians and criminal suspects without authorization from a judge. The report caused outrage in Israel and prompted the attorney general and lawmakers to launch investigations.

Last month, police said a preliminary internal investigation had found no evidence of misuse of the controversial spyware. But on Tuesday, the police said a secondary inspection “found additional evidence that changes certain aspects of the state of affairs.”

The statement made no mention of NSO, indicating that surveillance products developed by other Israeli firms might be under scrutiny. The company had no comment.

The police had previously denied the newspaper’s findings and said they operate according to the law.

In light of the police’s findings, Israel’s outgoing attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said he had instructed the police “to adopt procedures immediately in order to prevent breach of authority.” Mandelblit, who completed his six-year term on Tuesday, also said he instructed his fact-finding team to submit a report about allegations of unlawful surveillance of civilians by July 1.

(AP)