Israeli Shin Bet opposes Pegasus probe, cites security concerns

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Aug 2023 11:06
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The Israeli Shin Ben, the internal security service of the Israeli occupation, opposes a proposal to investigate the Israeli Pegasus spyware.

A person types on a laptop keyboard in North Andover, Massachusetts, June 19, 2017 (AP)

The Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the "National Security Council" that it opposed Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposal to grant an investigative committee the authority to probe the Pegasus spyware, according to I24news Israeli Website.

Levin is set to propose to the government on Sunday to grant the committee the authority to look into the Pegasus spyware scandal.

The Shin Bet informed Netanyahu and the security council of its opposition to Levin's proposal for several reasons, most notably the exposure of its capabilities to the Israeli public, which may lead to secrets being exposed.

Few companies in recent years have shown as much brass neck as NSO Group. The spyware producer immediately welcomed the "big news" after being named one of Time magazine's "most influential companies of 2022."

Being "influential" is not always a good thing. The spyware, Pegasus, may "steal personal data" from mobile phone applications, according to Time, which also noted that "some governments have reportedly used it to target political dissidents, activists, and even the wife of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi."

NSO Group bragged that it was one of just two Israeli companies on the list, despite being connected to a notorious murder, and that it was "proud" to be on it. The company pledged to keep developing "life-saving technologies."

A report by The Electronic Intifada detailed how one of the reasons for "Israel's" occupation of Palestine is making financial gains. The report also threw light on the EU's role in the process, among other issues.

According to evidence cited in the investigation, "Israel's readiness to test new surveillance systems on Palestinians" offers "incentives for a business model" that NSO has benefitted from.

The fact that spyware companies now believe they can operate more freely in the EU, where obstacles to their operations can be readily overcome, rather than in "Israel", is instructive.

Moreover, a report from May found that at least a dozen Armenian journalists, NGO workers, and officials were hacked with the Israeli occupation's Pegasus spyware.

Access Now was the first to document evidence of spyware being used in an international conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brief war in 2020 to control the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, after an earlier conflict in the 1990s.

NSO, which faces multiple lawsuits from Apple and others, has repeatedly insisted it sells its software only to government clients and only for peaceful purposes.

But the 2021 leak suggested there were around 50,000 potential victims of Pegasus around the world, many of whom were opposition figures, journalists, and activists.