International probe needed over NSO, says Israeli human rights lawyer

BEN LYNFIELD: Eitay Mack says NSO’s ‘symbiotic relationship’ with the Israeli government will prevent any serious probe; only an international commission can get to the truth

JERUSALEM -- ISRAELI SPYWARE maker NSO enjoys a "symbiotic relationship" with the Israeli government and therefore no serious probe will be launched into its sale of "Pegasus" spyware to governments around the world that are believed to have used it to monitor and suppress dissidents, human rights activists and journalists.

The only way to get to the truth is for countries around the world to establish an international commission.

That is the assessment of Eitay Mack, one of Israel's leading activists against weapons sales to human rights abusing regimes. He spoke to The Jewish Independent several days after a defence ministry delegation visited NSO offices in Herzliya ostensibly "to examine the reports and claims concerning it," according to a ministry spokesman.

Last month, the findings of a global investigation involving 17 news organizations including the Guardian and Haaretz were released after the examination of a database of 50,000 leaked phone numbers potentially selected as targets for hacking by clients of NSO.

The media organisations were able to specify ten governments believed to be responsible for selecting the targets, including Israeli normalisation partners the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco and Saudi Arabia, which has reportedly established covert ties with Israel.

NSO has denied any wrongdoing and the defence ministry says it regulates export of cyber products.

"What we have here is not NSO going out of control," said Mack,a lawyer who for the past decade has sought to expose and block arms and technology sales to South Sudan, Burma, Azerbaijan, Russia and many other autocratic regimes.