“It happened to me too. I’m in shock. Seriously. … And it will happen to you too.” That was how Avner Netanyahu, son of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responded to reports that he appeared on the list of people tracked by the police with the Pegasus spyware.

The report, which appeared in the Calcalist economic newspaper Feb. 7, claimed that the police spied on several dozen civilians in key positions of power, including the former directors general of several major ministries. These included former Justice Ministry DG Emi Palmor, former Finance Ministry DG Shai Babad, and former Communication Ministry DG Shlomi Filber (who eventually turned state witness in Netanyahu’s bribery trial). The list also includes mayors, important leaders of social protests, chairs of labor committees, and advisors to Netanyahu when he was prime minister.

Although the paper offered so far no additional evidence for its claim, the fact that it is such a detailed list is so jarring that it demands immediate investigation. 

The former officials are demanding that the prime minister establish an official commission of inquiry. In a letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, they wrote: “Our sense of insult, humiliation, and helplessness given this trampling of our most basic rights is unbearable. … No harsh words could describe the gravity of a situation in which the police of a democratic state act illegally to install spyware on its citizens’ cell phones.”