Israel Seeks To Placate Macron, A Target Of NSO Spyware Surveillance

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz will travel to France this week to discuss spyware sold by Israeli cyber firm NSO that was allegedly used to target French President Emmanuel Macron, Yaniv Kubovich reported for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Photo Insert: Emmanuel Macron in a ceremony paying tribute to General de Gaulle's role in the Resistance

Macron's phone was on a list of targets that were possibly under surveillance by Morocco, which used NSO Group's Pegasus software, according to France's Le Monde newspaper. The French leader has called for an investigation.

Gantz will meet French Defense Minister Florence Parly on Wednesday, an official Israeli statement said. "Gantz will discuss the crisis in Lebanon and the developing agreement with Iran. He will also update the minister on the topic of NSO," it said.

Israel's Defense Ministry oversees commercial exports of spyware and cyber-surveillance technologies like Pegasus.

A global investigation published last week by 17 media organizations, led by the Paris-based non-profit journalism group Forbidden Stories, said Pegasus had been used in attempted and successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists.

US lawmakers call for punitive measures against Israeli NSO over spyware allegations. In a call with Bennett, Macron expresses concern over alleged targeting using Israeli spyware Pegasus. Israel has since set up a senior inter-ministerial team to assess any possible misuse of the spyware, Reuters also reported.

NSO rejected the reports, saying it was "full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories."

Pegasus is intended for use only by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime, the company said, but no one believes this claim as Israeli companies have been notorious for selling drones, surveillance equipment to Russia and other countries, with the technology ending up being used by Syria against forces opposed to the Assad regime.

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