Israeli officials did not want the Ukrainian secret services to be able to eavesdrop on Russian mobile phones.
Israel has blocked the sale of the Pegasus spy program by NSO Group for fear that officials in Russia will be angered by the sale of an advanced hacking tool to their enemy in the region. This was reported by The Guardian, citing its own sources informed about the situation. The publication notes that the new revelation sheds light on how Israeli relations with Moscow undermine Ukraine's offensive capabilities, which is contrary to US priorities.
President Vladimir Zelensky criticized Israel's position on Russia's bloody invasion of Ukrainian territory. In a recent address to the Knesset, he said the country would have to “answer” why it had not provided weapons to the Ukrainian army and imposed sanctions on Russia.
It has now become known that in 2019, Ukrainian officials tried to persuade Israel to issue a license to use the Pegasus spyware. But these efforts failed. The NSO Group, which is regulated by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, has never received permission to sell its software to Kyiv.
Successful use of Pegasus allows you to hack any mobile phone and intercept phone calls, read text messages or access user photos. The telephone also becomes a tool for listening to non-telephone conversations. Because a government user can remotely enable or disable recording on it.
The Guardian and the Washington Post tried to find out how NSO's government clients are using its products against human rights defenders and media workers around the world. The investigation also found that agreements to sell Pegasus to various countries, from Hungary to Saudi Arabia, are often linked to Israeli foreign policy. The spyware program was also used against high-ranking officials and diplomats from Spain, France, Uganda and other countries. It was used in internal and external espionage.
The NSO says their development was intended for use by governments in the pursuit of criminals and terrorists. The company is also conducting its own investigation into allegations of abuse. Sources said that the Israeli Ministry of Defense often first allowed the NSO to sell Pegasus to another government client and then, after reconsideration, either approved the sale or canceled it. A senior Ukrainian intelligence official said Israel's decision “puzzled” officials in Kiev. The interlocutor of the publication added that he did not understand why Ukraine was denied access to technology, as the US government supported these Ukrainian efforts.
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Another source told The Guardian that in the case of Ukraine, the Israeli decision was dictated by a reluctance to irritate Russia, with which it has established close intelligence relations. Israel feared that the ability of Ukrainian special services to attack mobile phones in Russia with the help of Pegasus would be seen as an act of aggression against Russian intelligence.
But not only Ukraine has been denied a spyware license. NATO member Estonia also bought Pegasus in 2019. However, in August of the same year, the NSO informed Tallinn that it did not allow it to use the technology against Russian targets.
Experts say Israel has political motives to maintain close relations with Russia. He hopes that Moscow will not allow the revival of the agreement on Iran's nuclear program, which was almost completed in Vienna. Israel is also attacking Moscow when it attacks Iranian positions in Syria.
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