Jerusalem, 20 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli police engaged in widespread illegal surveillance activities over more than a decade, collecting prohibited data on thousands of citizens and operating sophisticated wiretapping tools without proper legal authorization, according to a damning state audit released Tuesday.
The comprehensive report by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman revealed that police installed technological surveillance tools on devices and intercepted communications between 2009 and 2021 while systematically circumventing judicial oversight and exceeding their legal authority. The State Comptroller regularly reviews Israel’s preparedness and the effectiveness of government policies.
“The serious deficiencies we found directly impact the fundamental principles of how law enforcement agencies exercise their power and authority, and the proper balance between the police’s duty to fight crime and its obligation to minimize infringement on the right to privacy,” the report said.
The audit examined hundreds of thousands of warrant requests, administrative permits, and millions of intercepted communications. Between 2019-2021 alone, courts approved 12,937 wiretap orders targeting 9,425 individuals. During this period, police collected 7.65 million pieces of surveillance data using technological tools whose full capabilities were never disclosed to the judges who authorized their use — or to government legal advisers responsible for oversight. This meant judges granted surveillance warrants without understanding what they were actually approving, and legal authorities could not properly evaluate whether police operations complied with the law.
The report did not identify the specific surveillance tools by name or manufacturer, referring to them generically as “technological tools” for security reasons. However, the audit described their capabilities: the tools could be installed remotely on smartphones and computers to intercept messages, track locations, and access stored data. The systems could collect 14 different types of data and retrieve historical communications created before surveillance warrants were issued.
Media reports in January 2022 that triggered the investigations suggested NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was among the tools in question, though Englman’s audit did not confirm this. The concealment proved significant: both the Comptroller’s audit and a separate 2022 investigation by then-Deputy Attorney General Amit Merari determined that several tools exceeded police legal authority and had been used since at least 2011.
State Comptroller investigators identified 19 cases of illegal installations of surveillance equipment and 14 instances in which police used or processed prohibited intercepted materials. In nine out of 14 data categories examined, collection violated legal restrictions. Prohibited data types were collected from 40 percent of surveillance targets.
“For years, the police operated a specific technological tool for computer-to-computer communications interception hundreds of times without legislative regulation, without examination and approval by the Attorney General’s office legal advisers, and without conducting a fundamental legal discussion on the matter with government legal counsel,” the report concludes.
The investigation revealed that police legal advisers approved four technological tools and five surveillance procedures without informing the Attorney General’s office. Two of these tools and two operational methods were later found to exceed police authority after years of active use.
In emergency situations requiring immediate data access, police issued 77,705 administrative permits between 2017 and 2021. However, a sample review found that 99 percent of reports documenting these permits contained critical deficiencies, including missing information about targets, phone numbers, and approval signatures.
The audit also uncovered that police issued 630 repeat emergency permits within 3-72 hours of initial authorization, raising concerns about circumvention of judicial processes that require court orders for extended surveillance.
“The police used the administrative permit contrary to the law’s conditions and not as a means that obviates the need to approach the court,” the report said.
Oversight failures compounded operational violations. Between 2019-2021, only three of 259 internal audits examined the most sensitive operational units conducting surveillance activities. Police failed to conduct follow-up audits to verify correction of identified deficiencies, and in one instance where such verification occurred, six of seven problem areas remained uncorrected.
The report notes that prosecutors conducting criminal proceedings were often unaware of the full capabilities of technological tools used to gather evidence. This knowledge gap prevented proper evaluation of whether surveillance methods complied with legal standards and whether defendants’ rights to review evidence were adequately protected.
Englman noted that in response to Merari’s findings, the government formed a ministerial inquiry committee in August 2023 that was tasked with determining findings and conclusions regarding past actions and making recommendations for the future. However, “Until the end of the audit, the committee’s work had not been completed,” Englman said.
The audit stressed that the findings reflect systemic organizational failures rather than individual misconduct, rooted in outdated 1979 legislation inadequate for digital-age surveillance technologies. Englman called for comprehensive legislative reform and enhanced oversight mechanisms.
“The heavy burden placed on the shoulders of the audited bodies – the police, the Attorney General’s office, and the State Attorney’s office – requires them to act in a significant, purposeful, and swift manner to correct the deficiencies,” the report said.
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