The Defence Minister of Israel, Benny Gantz, will meet his French counterpart, Florence Parly, in Paris on Wednesday to discuss the economic crisis in Lebanon, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Pegasus spyware allegedly used to target French President Emmanuel Macron.
In a statement, the Israeli government said, “Gantz will discuss the crisis in Lebanon and the developing agreement with Iran. He will also update the Minister on the topic of NSO as the export of cyber-surveillance technology for commercial purposes falls under the purview of Israel’s Defence Ministry.”
As per news reports, the meeting between the ministers was planned before the NSO ordeal and only aimed to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and the progress made to restore Iran’s nuclear deal. However, last week, the French President called his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett, to talk about the snooping on his phone by Moroccan security forces and asked for assurances that the issue is being dealt with seriously. In response, Bennett said the allegations are from a period before he took office and assured Macron that all measures were being taken to conclude the matter. Following this, Israel set up a senior inter-ministerial team to evaluate any misuse of spyware.
However, the Israeli officials have refused to comment on the Pegasus report and declined to identify the countries that own the spyware. Regarding this, Israeli lawmaker and head of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Ram Ben-Barak, said, “The defence establishment appointed a review committee made up of several bodies. When they finish their review, we’ll demand to see the results and assess whether we need to make corrections.” Moreover, The Guardian mentioned Israel’s top-rated news channel stating, “Gantz would tell his French host that, if the Israeli assessment finds abuse of Pegasus by the Moroccans, they could be cut off from the system.”
A group of 17 media organisations led by Paris based NGO Forbidden stories published a database to substantiate a collaborative investigation that reveals the use of Pegasus software to hack smartphones of politicians, human rights activists, and journalists. The list of possible targets under surveillance includes the French President among at least 180 journalists, 600 politicians, 85 human rights activists, and 65 business leaders.
France and Israel to Discuss Lebanon, Iran, and Pegasus Spyware
The discussions between the Defence Ministers of France and Israel will include the economic crisis in Lebanon, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Pegasus spyware.
July 28, 2021
SOURCE: REUTERS