NSO and Pegasus still under fire from critics. Seven months after a first scandal against a backdrop of global espionage, the Israeli company was accused on Monday February 7 by a Hebrew state newspaper of having hacked into the phones of journalists, influential members of the government and those close to the government. former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After being talked about in July 2021, the Pegasus software was again singled out by the business daily Calcalist for having, according to its information, allowed the Israeli police to spy on prominent public figures in the country.
Questioned by the Calcalist investigation published on January 20, the police admitted last week that they had used computer espionage technologies “without a warrant”.
This Monday, the specialized newspaper highlighted the repeated use of Pegasus by the police against Avner Netanyahu, one of the sons of the former Prime Minister, as well as some of his political advisers. , mayors and journalists of the country.
“The alleged facts are very serious”
Owner of the software, the NSO group cast doubt by indicating that it was “in no way involved in the operation of the system once sold to government customers”.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reacted to this accusation on Monday by saying that he was doing everything possible to provide a rapid response and an adequate sanction if necessary.
“We will not leave this unanswered. The alleged facts are very serious”, explained Naftali Bennett in a press release. Israeli Police Commander Yaakov Shabtai ordered the creation of an external and independent investigation to Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev.
