Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media citing Emergency Services: Both wounded in Allenby shooting operation now dead.
Israeli media: One soldier wounded at Allenby crossing now confirmed killed.
Israeli media: Preliminary reports of shooting operation at Allenby crossing with Jordan.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.

Lobbyists downplayed NSO, "Israel" connection: HR organizations

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 27 Jul 2022 09:14
  • 2 Shares
4 Min Read

Democracy for the Arab World Now calls on the United States to investigate four lobbyists associated with the NSO Group for breaching the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

  • x
  • HR org: Lobbyists misrepresent relationship between NSO and
    Lobbyists downplayed NSO, "Israel" connection: HR organizations

A well-known human rights organization has requested that the US Department of Justice investigate four lobbyists associated with the Israeli technology business NSO Group.

Authoritarian countries have utilized the NSO Group's famed Pegasus spyware to monitor dissidents and activists.

The Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) NGO claims that four lobbyists (Brian Finch, David Tamasi, Steve Rabinowitz, and Timothy Dickinson) violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by misrepresenting the Israeli government's involvement with NSO Group.

The lobbyists allegedly misled politicians and journalists about the company, downplaying or eliminating NSO's links to human rights violations, according to DAWN. 

NSO-Israeli government relationship 

The relationship between the Israeli government and NSO is well-documented. Despite a previous vow to refrain from providing technology to governments that "commit human rights violations," it offered NSO the export license required to engage with foreign governments.

In 2020, then-Israeli Security Minister and current Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett officially praised NSO for collaborating with the Israeli military to track COVID exposure among the country's populace. 

“Despite the well-documented human rights abuses committed with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, these four lobbyists and their firms have chosen to contribute to the company’s abuses by misleading public officials about its deservedly maligned reputation,” reads a statement put out by DAWN Director of "Israel"-Palestine Advocacy Adam Shapiro.

“Our investigation shows that the four lobbyists and NSO Group are misleading Congress, the Biden administration, and the American public by failing to register the Israeli government’s control of the company in their FARA registration forms.”

Read next: Israeli spyware firm NSO "cannot be counted on": HRW

At least 20 governments utilized the technology, which allows users to harvest data from iPhone and Android devices, to target more than 180 journalists and activists. In several cases, the hacking came before the killings.

For example, the family of Jamal Khashoggi appears to have been surveilled before and after his killing, while the virus targeted Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineda just weeks before his 2017 murder.

“The Pegasus Project lays bare how NSO’s spyware is a weapon of choice for repressive governments seeking to silence journalists, attack activists, and crush dissent, placing countless lives in peril,” said Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard after the investigations were made public.

NSO Group

This was not the first time NSO technology has garnered international attention. Facebook sued the corporation in 2019 after roughly 1,400 WhatsApp users were hacked using Pegasus. Among those who were hacked were journalists and activists.

The NSO Group has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the Forbidden Stories investigations were riddled with "wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories."

This did not, however, prevent the US government from blacklisting the corporation in November 2021. The Commerce Department of the Biden administration stated that the move was part of an effort to "stem the proliferation of digital tools used for repression."

According to DAWN, three of the lobbyists (Tamasi, Rabinowitz, and Dickinson) filed to register with NSO after Biden placed it on the blacklist, while one (Finch) had joined before the announcement.

Read next: NSO Group 'throwing cash' at lobbyists to get off US blacklist

“From the available evidence, including credible and detailed media reporting, court filings, and information the company and its lobbyists promote about NSO Group, it is clear that NSO Group is controlled and/or directed by the Israeli government and possibly also its foreign government clients,” reads DAWN’s complaint to the Justice Department.

“The fact that four separate lobbying firms that registered as FARA agents on behalf of NSO Group each misrepresented the true nature of the company suggests that this was not accidental or an oversight, but rather a coordinated or directed effort to mislead the FARA Unit, the Department of Justice, and the American people.”

If the complaints are investigated and verified, the lobbyists could face up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines.

  • Foreign Agents Registration Act
  • Israel
  • NSO Group
  • Pegasus

Most Read

Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A Hezbollah supporter who lost his sight in a pager attack carried out by "Israel" on Sept. 17, 2024, covers his eyes with a red headband inscribed with the name "Hussein" during Ashoura, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'We Have Recovered': Lebanon marks 1st anniversary of Pager Attack

The Arab neighborhood of El Za'im, on the outskirts of east Occupied Al-Quds in the West Bank, near where Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement project, Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestine

'Israel’s' deliberate policies drive West Bank economy toward collapse

Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Politics

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns over parent company curbing activism

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll
US & Canada

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS