Security Minister Benny Gantz is scheduled to fly to France on Wednesday for a brief visit to discuss a variety of issues, including the Pegasus spyware scandal.

“Gantz will meet in Paris with the French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly to hold discussions on the ongoing crisis in Lebanon and the nuclear negotiations with Iran, as well as to “provide an update on the NSO affair,” the Security Ministry said in a statement.

According to Barley's associates, "the latter will take advantage of this long-planned meeting to see the extent of the Israeli government's knowledge of (NSO) customers' activities and what measures have been taken and will be taken in the future to avoid the exploitation of these tools."

It is worth mentioning that the French President Emmanuel Macron had to change his phone number after reports that he was targeted by the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware.

Simultaneously, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a probe into the media reports that exposed the Pegasus spyware scandal.

The Pegasus scandal began with the publication of leaks by Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, in collaboration with media organizations, revealing that approximately 50,000 phone numbers were potential surveillance targets. The leaks and ongoing investigations identified at least 11 governments believed to be NSO customers: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, India, Togo, and the United Arab Emirates.

In the meantime, “Israel” has established a committee to review allegations that NSO Group’s Pegasus phone surveillance software was misused.