'Israeli' police abuses revealed in state surveillance report

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Palestine

'Israeli' state audit reveals widespread police surveillance abuses and lack of legal oversight between 2011 and 2021.
Experts warn the report exposes systemic violations of citizens’ rights and urges accountability for all officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.

An official report by 'Israeli' State Comptroller, Matanyahu Englman, reveals unprecedented expansion in police use of surveillance and hacking tools from 2011 to 2021, amid a lack of clear legal regulation and effective oversight. The findings follow high-profile controversies, including the Pegasus spyware case.

Extensive surveillance documented

The report showed the police submitted roughly 14,000 requests for wiretapping orders during this period, with 12,937 approved, over 90 percent. More than 1,000 requests involved intercepting computer communications, and another 1,000 pertained to installing technological monitoring devices.

Police have increasingly used tools capable of collecting sensitive communications data, including mobile phone and computer locations, taking advantage of rapid technological advances to amass large volumes of personal information.

Legal and procedural failures

The comptroller documents serious failured in the approval process, including instances where surveillance tools were used without consulting the Justice Ministry or government legal advisors, or without disclosing the full capabilities of the technology.

In many cases, approvals were granted solely within the police, later exceeding legally authorized powers. Exceptional orders meant to be temporary became routine, and judicial procedures often became technical formalities rather than substantive legal reviews.

The report highlighted particularly troubling surveillance of non-suspects, including witnesses and victims, affecting vulnerable populations such as minors.

Calls for accountability

Lawyer Dina Zilber, former deputy attorney general, said the report shows the police are violating the law. Writing in Haaretz, she argues that the expansion of surveillance outside legal authority reflects an institutional culture that treats the law as a recommendation rather than a binding obligation.

Zilber stressed the need for a radical shift in police practice to safeguard citizens’ rights and liberties, and calls for all authorities, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, to be held accountable under the law.

Broader systemic concerns

Tehila Schwartz Altshuler, head of the Democracy in the Information Age program at the 'Israeli' Democracy Institute, said the report exposes a deep, ongoing governance failure. She notes that surveillance tools provide the police with massive access to personal, political, and professional data without effective oversight, placing all citizens’ privacy at risk.

Altshuler added that this spying is just one element of a broader system of advanced technologies used by the police, including smart cameras, license plate readers, and AI-based screening at Ben Gurion Airport, often implemented without proper legislation, procedures, or training.

Experts warn that the report should serve as a wake-up call, as technological capability has outpaced legal safeguards, raising the risk of unchecked state power over citizens’ private lives.