After a long hiatus from my blog I decided it was time to revisit my space and vent my thoughts and perspective on l’affaire Pegasus: The spyware that allegedly triggered the infamous,’ snoopgate scandal’ causing considerable consternation in Israel. The explosive revelations in the Israeli media, inspite of the protracted and unsettling silence of the Israeli Minister for Internal Security Omer Bar Lev on the issue, forced an announcement of the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus spyware by Israel police. I quote the Minister’s words, “Amid growing evidence, it seems that failures, if there were any, were under previous police commissioners, previous ministers of internal security , and previous governments. Citizens of Israel, I look you straight in the eye and make a commitment to you that the commission of inquiry will examine deep and wide all allegations. On my shift these failures won't occur - the police is under my responsibility and my authority and I will ensure that if there was harm to democracy in previous, I will uproot and not allow this to happen”.

As it stands today, the Israel’s Internal Security Ministry is searching for an eminent judge to lead the commission of inquiry and start to investigate the grave affair. When revelations about Israel’s police using Pegasus spyware first cropped-up, the Minister promptly dismissed the issue stating that he had looked into the matter and there had been no impropriety. But evidence against Pegasus was mounting and the Minister’s nonchalance and facile handling of an issue so grave was snowballing into an embarrassment for the present Israeli Government. An unrelenting, belligerent press seeking answers, piling evidence and bad publicity, are ingredients that can potentially threaten a Government.They needed to act. Justifying his government’s nonchalance earlier on the issue of spywares the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had said that “while Pegasus and other similar spyware programmes are important tools in the fight against terror and serious crime, they are not intended for widespread ‘phishing’ among Israeli citizens or public figures in the State of Israel, so we need to understand exactly what happened”. The statement indicates a palatable shift in the government’s stance .

CALCALIST THAT TRIGGERED THE CHANGE:

An explosive and damning Calcalist report (Calcalist is an Israeli daily business newspaper and website), alleging that police had used the NSO Group’s (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company’s founders, is an Israeli technology firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus), Pegasus spyware to hack into the phones of government officials, mayors, activists, journalists, and family members and advisers of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Calcalist Report indicting Pegasus forced a Government in denial to act. Soon enough Israel’s Environment Minister, Tamar Zandberg, said the allegations, “leave no room for doubt: This is an earthquake that requires no less than a State commission of inquiry.” The idea “that a democratic State spies on its citizens like the last of the dictatorships.” was how he decried the whole issue of spying. Leaving no more room for any other clarification.

Close on the heels of the incriminating report came a damnatory story in Israel’s prominent news paper, ‘ Haartez’ on February 7. And this is what it said, “The Israel made Pegasus spyware, sold by the cyber-offense firm NSO to State intelligence agencies around the world, has become infamous in recent years. Exploiting unknown loopholes in WhatsApp, iMessage and Android has allowed the group’s clients to potentially infect any smartphone and gain full access to it - in some cases without the owner even clicking or opening a file.” More of the report which said “Digital forensics groups such as Amnesty International and University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab have revealed numerous potential targets with traces of the spyware on their phones.” That “So far, targets have been found across the world: from India and Uganda to Mexico and the West Bank, with high-profile victims including U.S. officials and a New York Times journalist.” In there was a list of at least 12 Indians whose phones were hacked using the spyware. The moot question is : what if the Commission of inquiry ordered by Israeli government investigates illegal use of Pegasus spyware not only in Israel but by various other intelligence agencies around the world? My presumption is that the fallout will be grave. If culpability due to illegal use of Pegasus spyware against its citizens is established, Ministers of Internal Security across Governments’ in the world would be in the line of fire. India may have a fallout no different from the rest. An investigation and it’s outcome will gravely impact India’s Home Ministry. In that eventuality how the Indian judiciary and Prime Minister’s office tackle the ’snoopgate affair’ will be a potboiler that netflix would not want to miss making. There is no doubt that the Pegasus scandal is a massive can of worms on the brink of eruption all over the world and the newly ordered commission of inquiry will damage a lot of high profile careers and foreign relations between Israel and the rest of the world. Possibilities and probabilities are many. I leave you to speculate.